UNSC Marauder
by Goat13
Summary: Thrown into a different time, Harry must fight for not only his own survival, but for mankind's as well.
1. Chapter 1

Greetings from Sweden! And happy New Year! This story was supposed be up on Christmas Eve, but our internet was down so it was postponed until now.

So I've been replaying all of the halo games with the exception of the third and I was just filled with excitement about writing a fanfic for Halo. At first I wanted to write a story with nothing but Halo characters, but I barely knew any characters I truly liked from the games so I made it a crossover. Master Chief is awesome and all, but it's really hard to write someone who barely speaks. The only other alternative was to make an OC-story and I'm kind of sick of those. There are just so many of them.

Well, I used the whole `Harry was betrayed´-cliché, yes I know. I just needed a way to get Harry into the Halo-universe and/or time with a clear explanation as to why he got there. While the explanation isn't made obvious in this chapter, it will become clear in the future.

As for his equipment, it's not Mjolnir- armour or ODST-armour. It's basically a variant of Marine- armour with an upgraded CH252 helmet. He stole it from the last defensive post of the army so the tech he's using is cutting edge (on Roost which isn't as advanced as the UNSC, considering it's an outer colony).

Before you point out any inaccuracies about the story, please note that I haven't read the novels so I will be little sketchy about the facts and theories. I'm using the wiki as a study-book, but it's not always as accurate as it can be.

I think that's about it for an AN. Enjoy the story and please review. It's what makes us authors tick!

Also, is anyone interested in becoming a beta for me?

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><p><strong>UNSC Marauder<strong>

_How many times had this happened?_

That was the sole thought that ran through Harry's mind as he was dragged to the veil. His mind was a blur already, the effects of Veritas serum and the imperius curse making it hard to keep track of what was up and down and yet that single thought was as clear as the sky was blue.

"Hadrian James Potter, as the Minister of Magic and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, I hereby sentence you to death. On the condition of you confessing to the crimes you committed and returning the gold you stole from the families of accusers, I can however offer you a pardon." The voice of Albus Dumbledore was unnervingly calm. He still wore the guise of a gentle grandfather, even as he was sentencing an innocent man to a death for a crime he knew the accused in question had nothing to do with. Oh well, practice makes perfect.

"And what crimes would that be? The crime of stealing from the Weasley family? As if I had any reason to steal anything from them. Or is it the crime of using Hermione Granger's services without paying for them? Considering all the times I've saved them over the years I figured we'd be even by now." Even though he tried to look as calm as his judge, jury and executioner did, he could not stop the venom in his voice from leaking.

They were in the ministry again, in the Department of Mysteries. After ten years of studies and fighting evil wizards, he had finally been brought back to the chamber of Death once more. It was silly actually, to think he would actually have been able to avoid the veil his entire life. The Veil which had taken the life of his Godfather and had changed his view on life and death, it was almost illogical for him to try it.

The person responsible for his return however didn't seem to care for his thoughts about the Veil. "My boy, can't you see what has become of you? You hate the people who loved you, people who only wish to help you? The gold you inherited from your parents, it has warped your mind, twisted your morals until you fell into this shell of your former self. It's for the best if you relinquish you hold over the gold to me and let us help you onto the right path once more." The ever gentle tone of the headmaster sounded comforting, benevolent even, but it didn't work as much as the old man thought it would.

The Legilimency the old man was using was powerful, more so than anything any other wizard alive could contend with. Having more than a century of experience with the telepathic magic, the wizard in front of him could probably rewrite all of Harry's memories in less than minute and convince him that Dumbledore was the equivalent of a god if he wasn't careful. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Dumbledore was one of the most powerful wizards in the European countries.

Although that wasn't to say Harry was any weaker in that particular area.

Snape might have been an awful teacher in both potions and Occlumency, but Harry didn't need him to learn a subject. After the war, Harry had bunkered down with all sorts of books to make up for his lacklustre education and had finally managed to master the art of Occlumency after practicing with Luna, Fleur and Gabrielle, the three women who had not let his fame go to his head. Suffice to say, Dumbledore wouldn't be brainwashing him into doing his bidding any time soon.

"You talk about me letting my greed change me, but have you ever looked yourself in the mirror? I'm pretty sure Arianna would be weeping if she saw you n…GHURK!" He wasn't allowed to finish his statement as the elderly wizard planted his heel in Harry's face, breaking the bone and cartilage with a sickening sound. Pain flared up in his face and he let out a series of grunts and growls, akin to an enraged beast.

"Don't you ever mention my sister again, you fool! Bastards like you don't deserve the knowledge of her existence. If you wish to survive this then I suggest you keep your mouth shut unless I tell you to speak." The man spoke with more heat in his voice than Harry had ever heard him speak. Not even when he and Voldemort had fought in the atrium had Dumbledore shown such rage in his words.

The men holding his arms shifted their posture, most likely out of shock at the blatant change in their minister's act. From the kind old man to a raging maniac who looked like he hadn't had a syringe in five days in less than a second, it would take a maniac not too react to such a quick reversal.

Poor auror, they really weren't paying you enough to deal with the old fart's bullshit.

Though the pain was more than substantial enough to make him groan at the merest movement, it did help him clear his mind a little. As long as he could focus on the pain of the broken nose, he could leave the fog from the potion-induced hallucinations. He could make out objects around him, people who he had not seen before who had remained quiet until now. There were the Weasley family, Hermione, Neville and Snape as well as others who he could not put a name on, but he knew them from Dumbledore's little bird-club.

"So what's up with the audience? You get off on these things nowadays? Funny, last time I checked the newspaper it said you were only attracted to mentally unstable boys, but I suppose they could have missed the whole snuff-audience fetish in favour of the whole sleeping with a mass murderer-issue. " _`Keep him talking, keep him busy until you can get the damn potions out of your system. You were bitten by a basilisk, a few drugs made by some amateur is no biggie for you. Unless they happen to overload your body to the point of your lungs are drowning in the stuff, but that's not the issue. Well actually it _is_ the issue, but that doesn't matter right now._´

"No, I'm afraid you're mistaken. They are here as witnesses to your trial and execution. All of them have already given their statements and you already heard me give the sentence so I see no reason to explain further. I trust you to understand the weight of the situation." The man, or more like parasite, said with amusement in his voice.

What did he mean by that? Harry took a closer look at the people around him, trying to understand why they were even here for an execution. Then when he saw what they were holding he realized just what Dumbledore had done. Ron was holding his firebolt in his hands and was grinning from ear to ear while Ginny was holding his wand. Hermione held something worth even more in her greedy little hands, his parent's photo album. Everyone in the room was holding something belonging to him, something he held dear. Those slimy snakes, they weren't content trying to take his money, they wanted hid possessions along with it. Fighting to stop the rage to showing on his face, he turned to Dumbledore.

"Yeah, I never really got that. How does me dying entitle you and your group of brownnosers to my gold? Granted, I have never particularly understood any of you plans due to the sheer idiocy of them all, but this one tops them all." He was actually rather curious though. Albus had never revealed his plans until they bore fruit and this was most likely Harry's final moments so he really wanted to die with the knowledge of what the old bastard was doing. At least he would know in what way Dumbledore had screwed himself over before he died.

"No need to worry, my boy." Always with that annoying way of speech. `My boy´ this and `My boy´ that, couldn't he ever stay formal for once? "It is your gold we're talking about so it's only fair I tell you what you want to know about it. In accordance to the ministry laws, the gold from a criminal will be passed to the victims, unless he has any living magical relatives of course which you unfortunately don't. It is why Tom's vault and inheritance passed to you when you defeated him, as you are one of the people who suffered the worse and the one who defeated him. Once you have been declared officially dead and a year has passed, the possessions of the Potter family will be ours."

Was that it? A legal loophole that was theoretically illegal? He almost wanted to laugh, but the broken ribs were making it hard to even breathe. Too bad for the old fuck, the gold wasn't in the vault in Gringotts anymore. After the Gringotts incident, Harry had taken all the gold and locked it away in his tattoo on his arm. Even if he got the control of the vault in the bank, all he would get was an empty vault of stone and dust. Not that he was going to tell Dumbledore that, it would be better to take that particular knowledge to the grave.

"You won't get away with this, you know. People are going to find out what happened and spread the word. Soon enough you'll have a civil war on your hands, the Order of Phoenix against the rest of the wizarding world. How does that sound?" He was wheezing now as the fractured ribs had probably poked a hole in his lungs. He didn't have much time left so he was going to make this count, even as his broken nose was making his head pound in pain. "How did you think making the hero of the First and the Second War into a criminal would end?"

Albus shrugged. "The wizarding world will think what I tell them to think. With the control over the Potter, Black and slytherin vault and using them to pay the purebloods to keep the silence, I will hold total dominion over the UK. I do hope you will have a pleasant afterlife because it is time to say farewell."

Harry felt his guards heave him up once more and before he knew it he was in front of the veil, nothing but a few centimetres between it and him. Just as the aurors were going to push him through, he couldn't resist giving off one final comment. "Hey Albus, you ever heard of the expression of `Taking something to the grave´? Well, the gold is my something!" He said as he revealed the tattoo on his lower arm, the golden lion shimmering as if made from actual gold.

And then he jumped into The Veil, seeing everyone's shock as the realization struck them and thought it was a good day.

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><p><strong><em>UNSC Marauder<em>**

The blindingly white ceiling of a hospital room was the first thing he saw.

He didn't even need to ask if it was a hospital room. The smell of medicine and antiseptics was so prevalent he had to restrain the urge to groan at the starkness of the colour. So many memories, most of them bad, came rushing back to him. The time he had defended the sorcerer's stone, the battle in the Chamber of Secrets, practically every time he had met a dementor in his third year, pretty much his entire time at Hogwarts was one big trip to the hospital wing.

And now he was once more breathing in the air that contained more traces of drugs than the blood sample of a bodybuilder. Fantastic…

He tried to stretch when he noticed that he wasn't wearing the standard gown most magical hospitals made their patients wear. It was a simple white dress, one common to muggle hospitals with a single seam at the back. That was odd, if he was wearing muggle clothes then it meant he was in a muggle hospital. He had not been wearing that when he went through the veil. The last thing he remembered was the satisfaction of seeing Dumbledore's despairing face as he realized he had lost the only chance of keeping control of the country he wanted to rule. How he had gone from the Veil of Death to a muggle hospital was beyond him. No, what was even stranger was the fact that he wasn't dead. The possibility of his afterlife being a hospital was horrifyingly close to possible, but he doubted that was actually the case. He didn't feel dead for a lack of better words. He wasn't hurt and he wasn't feeling any pain, but the uncomfortable feeling of lying on one's back for days was there and if he was dead and in heaven then he wouldn't feel pain like that. If he was in hell, which was even worse, then the pain he was feeling would have been a lot worse.

He pulled himself up and winced at the feeling in his back. How long had he been asleep? He had once fallen into a coma after his battle with a dark wizard and had been stuck to a bed for a month and yet the pain he had now was more than he had felt back then. Had he been asleep for longer than a month?

He stopped his inspection of his back and looked around the room. The walls were stark white and the floor grey, lacking any kind of decoration or pattern, but the dirt and dust which had accumulated suggested it was overdue for a cleaning. It must have been at least a month since the janitor had last cleaned the place and that was only the floor in a single room. How many more rooms and patients did the hospital have? He can't be in the UK, no hospital would have accepted this kind of treatment of their patients, or rather, no humans would have accepted this kind of treatment for themselves.

He slid off the bed and winced as his feet touched the cold floor. Not heating and no cleaning meant something was incredibly wrong, as if the fact that he was alive when he had jumped into an object of absolute death wasn't indication enough for such a fact.

Dumbledore couldn't have brought him back, not even the old fart had enough knowledge or skill to accomplish that particular feat. He might have Harry beat in experience, but Harry had more skill and power than him and not even he had found a way to manipulate the veil in such a way so the chances of the old fart having fetched him back from the dead were slim.

He opened the door to the hallway and even though he should have been prepared for the sight that greeted him, it still took him by surprise.

The entire hospital was deserted. Even worse, it looked like it had been abandoned during a major catastrophe as bodies were still lying on hospital beds with badly wrapped bandages over their wounds and coagulated blood covered the floor. A thick layer of dust covered the floor and he was about to take a step into the hallway when something gleamed on the floor, like snow in the sun. He kneeled down and inspected the mysterious object and saw that what he had thought to be dust was actually glass, ranging from microscopic to nail-sized. Had he actually walked out of the room with his bare feet, he would have gotten more glass in his foot than what was medically recommended. He automatically reached for his wand on his holster only to find it gone. Of course, even if he had worn the wand when he fell through the veil, there was no guarantee the hospital would let his wand stay on his person, he was lucky if they hadn't burnt it already.

He needed to find some shoes, and some clothes while he was at it. Whatever was happening wasn't good and he didn't like being stuck in a major disaster wearing nothing but a hospital gown. Actually he didn't like wearing a hospital gown at all, he much preferred jeans and shirts, but that didn't matter right now. The breeze flowing through the hospital was making him shiver and the design of the clothing made it easy to lose warmth quickly.

Wrapping the sheets of the hospital bed around his feet, he shuffled over to the bed carrying a body. Not liking what came next, he prepared himself for the inevitable. He wasn't disappointed as the smell of rotting meat overcame his nostrils and made him gag. He undid the shoelaces on the left boot and removed it from the body's foot, but the skin and the boot had mingled for far too long and the decayed skin of the corpse was ripped off along with the boot.

He dropped the disgusting piece of footwear and backed up as the stench came back with a vengeance. He would obviously have to find something else to wear and he would have to do it quickly. He could see frost on the walls and right now he didn't have a wand, clothes, food or money aside from pure gold. While he was sure gold would get him a long way, he would have to find someone to deal with before he could bargain with them. He was really wishing he had packed his invisibility cloak and the rest of his stuff in his tattoo instead of leaving it in his apartment.

His tattoo?

He checked his arm and his heart filled with dread as he discovered the absence of his golden tattoo containing everything he owned. What the bloody hell had happened to it? It had been tied to his magic and body; nothing could have removed it without his permission! It was the equivalent of someone physically stealing another person's soul, it couldn't be done no matter how he would have required something of unimaginable power to…

The Veil of death.

If something had the capabilities to remove an object anchored to a body and magic, it would have been the veil. How he had survived the ordeal of entering the Veil was unknown, but his vault had apparently not done the same. It basically meant he had nothing aside from his own body at the moment, a thought he didn't like very much. It was a pity as he could sure as hell have used the gold, but he would have to bear it for now.

Walking along the edges of the room to avoid the shards of glass, he tried looking in the rooms for anything to help him on his way. While most of them held bodies rotten so bad he didn't need to open the door completely in order to know it was useless to go in, some held items he desperately needed.

Like clothes and boots.

It wasn't a room for a patient though, as the room was dark and resembled a closet more than anything else. The mostly empty room appeared to have been filled with clothes at one point as the clothes hanger is the room probably exceeded a hundred. Now only a few had clothing hanging from them. Taking a closer look, he discovered that there were military fatigues hanging and not hospital uniforms. Why were there military uniforms in a hospital? Had there been some kind of terrorist attack? He could understand if there were wounded soldiers here as it was a hospital, but why have an entire stock of their clothing in it? It looked like they had fallen back to the hospital and decided to use it as a base and then decided to abandon it in the end.

Putting his thoughts on the matter aside, he could feel the low temperature sting his legs and burn his cheeks. He wasn't going to stay another minute in this damn gown. He closed the door to prevent the cold wind to come in and searched through the drawers and managed to find some boxers and socks before putting them on. Finding trousers that fit him wasn't a challenge, he noted, as the military seemed to keep just about every size on hand in case of emergency. Likewise with the shirts and jackets, the closet seemed to contain pretty much everything in terms of clothing, though it could use some thicker materials. The camouflaged jacket was good for driving away the biting cold, but he had a feeling the wind would break through the thin fabric. He only managed to find a single pair of gloves, but at least he wasn't shivering from the cold anymore. He didn't find a single hat or cap so he took a helmet with him to cover his head from the harsh weather, but he didn't know how effective it was going to be. He reasoned that as long as he avoided direct skin contact with the freezing air, he could manage until he found something better.

"Is everything alright, 497?" A female voice said.

He jumped in surprise at the unexpected noise. Where had the voice come from? He had checked if there were any people in the room and he was sure he would have noticed if there were any ghosts hiding in the closets. Not only that, but the sound came from all around the room.

"Who's there?" He asked, more force in his voice than he was used to. The surprise had given him quite the scare so he was more than a little jumpy now.

"My apologies, Patient 497, I didn't mean to scare you. I just noticed you were awake and walking about, not something I was expecting considering your condition." Again the voice emanated from the room itself. Suddenly in the middle of the room, a small pillar emerged from the ground and a green light appeared from a small pillar. The light gathered into a single form and Harry had to pinch his arm to make sure he wasn't sleeping.

A small woman dressed in what seemed to be a futuristic outfit, complete with neon lights and a visor, had formed in the green light, or to be more accurate she was the green light. She was about the same size as a house elf, but not a single person would ever confuse them. Aside from the fact that she was clearly not made from any organic tissue, she wasn't speaking in grovelling third person.

"Who are you? And what are you?" He asked once more, unnerved by the appearance of the tiny woman. He felt like one of those people who had been abducted and experimented on, clinging onto whatever knowledge he could find about what was going on. The small green woman gave what appeared to be a small curtsy, though he couldn't tell due to the confusing nature of the green light, and responded.

"I am the AI in charge of the hospital. You have been in my care for the last two years ever since the authorities found you on the streets, naked and bleeding. I have to admit, I thought you were never going to wake up. Chances of coma patients waking up drop significantly after the first week is over. For you to awaken after two years with no outside stimulus is quite remarkable. I recommend you follow me to the check-up area, we need to make sure you have not suffered any permanent nerve or brain damage." As she spoke, a green arrow lit up on the floor and continued through the room to the door. "I'm afraid we don't have much time, I would like to escape this place as soon as possible."

He could understand why she would want to leave, but he didn't know for what reason the place had been deserted. "Can you tell me what has happened at least?"

"Of course, it wouldn't be good to leave my partner-in-crime in the dark, would it?" The enigmatic AI said with mirth hidden in her voice.

Harry was about to leave the room when the so-called AI spoke once more. "Before you leave, it would be a good idea to take a different helmet and not the one you're holding right now. The CH252 helmet is the most basic of the variants here and not equipped with a Neural Interface. In the top shelf above you, you will find the Mk. 2 ECH252 helmet capable of connecting to your Neural Implants. You should take it and leave the other one here; it would help both of us if you were properly equipped."

Wary of the AI's uncanny ability to see everything he was doing even if she wasn't in the room, he looked up and saw the item she was talking about. Unlike the one in his hands, which left the face visible with the exception of the goggles over the eyes, the one she recommended covered his entire head with a deep green visor in front of his face and…

Had she just said _Neural Implants?_

"What did you mean when you said Neural Implants?" He asked her, anxiety bordering on fear rising in his chest.

"When you were asleep, the surgeons attached a Neural Implant in the back of your head to better examine your condition. It is standard procedure for all comatose or long term patients to have the Z25-Implant inserted into their cranium." The voice said. "It is meant for the observation of the patient, but also to better administer the dosage and to contain medical and personal information. The Z25-series is an upgrade to the Z24 and patients are now capable of keeping their implants after their treatment is over and can use it in their daily lives."

"Exactly what can the implants do?" Was this Dumbledore's attempt to control him? Had he walked into a trap set by the old man when he was brought to the veil? Was it all an illusion to make him reveal his plan on taking the gold to his grave?

"They can safeguard information and programs better than most computers can as well as connect to other electronics." A pause in the explanation appeared only to be followed by the reassuring voice of the woman. "In case you are afraid of the implant being used to control you, I can tell you that it is impossible for the implants to manipulate your thoughts or movements. Control of such scale would require more hardware and processing capability than the implant can sustain. Even if you were to program an AI capable of such processing and programming into the implant's hard drive, the hardware used in the implant is too primitive and minimal to allow such a feat." The voice said.

The nature of the voice was incredibly confusing. While the mannerisms of the AI were formal at most times, it still managed to project enough emotion for him to take the words at face-value. The robotic tone and words made it seem like a pre-recorded speech, the way she said it made it sound as if she had said those words from the heart. While he had no way of truly knowing if they were true, he didn't have a choice in the matter at the moment. He slowly reached back and touched the back of his head.

Cold metal was the first thing he felt and he flinched at the touch. A cold metal plate about five centimetres in diameter with a thin rectangular hole in the middle of the plate seemed to rest on his spine. Gently moving it, he didn't feel any pain from it, but the uncomfortable feeling of moving muscles and ligaments appeared the moment he did so. He wouldn't be able to remove it, not without some kind of doctor to help him do it. If he tried to do it by force he would end up with irreparable damage to his nervous system so far up his spine his lungs would stop working.

"When you are done feeling yourself up," she said with hidden mirth in her voice once more. "I think it would be a good idea to try out your new helmet. We'll need to see if the circuitry has survived so far. Cold temperatures and dust tends to fry the technology when they activate if improperly cleaned. As it has currently been two weeks since the last time the janitors cleaned the hospital, I think some of the equipment here has deteriorated to such a point.

He decided to follow her advice for the time being. No use trying to get rid of the implant now, not when he didn't know anything about his situation to begin with. Grabbing the helmet and checking to make sure it wasn't broken or too small, he carefully put the helmet on his head and gasped as the helmet… did something to the implant. A cold feeling spread from his skull and blossomed over his eyes. He blinked, trying to get rid of the green tinge his vision had gotten, aside from the green visor, only to stop as different symbols appeared in front of him.

"What's going on? What did you do to me?" He asked frantically as the symbols blinked and twisted, changing colours from red to yellow and green.

"Don't worry, it's just the helmet booting up and connecting to your neural interface. It's checking your vitals and other information while trying to find your profile in the Roostinian Military Database. Most of the Mk. 2 ECH252s in supply are made for anyone who wears them, but they still perform a system scan each time they activate. Since this is the first time you wear one it will create a profile of you now. While it's doing that, follow me to the check-up, please." She said as he slowly started following the arrow on the floor. His new boots were unhindered by the glass on the floor, only making a crunching noise as the thick soles crushed them underneath his weight.

"So where am I?" He finally asked. He had never seen the technology used by the hospital, but then again he never went traveling other than France to visit the Delacours, and even then he never visited the muggle parts of the countries.

"You are in the Saint George's Hospital for Medicine and Research. You were found two years ago on the fifth of May, 2548 after a call to the Roostinian Police Force about a body being found on the street. As the body, in other words you, was actually still alive, you were transported to this hospital to be treated and observed. I have to say, you are one of the luckiest people I have ever seen in this hospital. Numerous broken ribs, punctured lungs and failing organs, I never once thought you would survive the ordeal. You did your best to prove me wrong however as not only did you survive, but you didn't lose muscle mass as fast as most coma patients usually do. When the Chief-of-Medicine noticed this anomaly, they kept you here under observation instead of sending you to another hospital for treatment." Without a single pause, the ghost-like entity explained his circumstances.

Two years in a coma… It did explain why his back was killing him. He had lost two whole freaking years of his life because of Dumbledore! Sure, he was planning to kill himself before the old fart could find out how to steal his inheritance, but it didn't mean he was okay with it. Two whole years- Wait…

"What did you say the year was?" He must have misheard her. No way in hell was she serious about the year. He had been arrested, quite illegally he might add, in 2006. That was a huge leap in time.

"You were found in May fifth, 2548 which would make today's date August Twenty-eighth,2550 ." Nope, not a mistake, he had heard her right the first time.

Not just two measly years, FIVE-HUNDRED YEARS! He had travelled five centuries into the future. Or maybe he had simply been held in stasis while in stasis while the rest of the world continued to spin, but it didn't change the fact that he had lost five-hundred years! It was impossible to do travel in time like that, even with magic.

He had to stop, take a break and breathe. He gripped the railing meant for people who were injured and tried to slow his hyperventilating down. This couldn't be happening, not this, not now. He couldn't wrap his head around it, like he was like trying to understand a four-dimensional being when he was still trapped in the third dimension.

"Is everything alright? I understand if you're shocked by the time you spent in a coma, but now is not the time to stay here. We need to move to a safe location before the Covenant discovers us. Just ahead of this corridor is the examination room its facilities. We can rest inside, but you need to move now." A small hint of urgency had entered her voice as if the possibility of being seen was dangerous.

"What's the covenant?" he asked.

Silence. After a few moments of staying silent, the AI responded.

"I believe the brain damage was more severe than I imagined. I'll explain once we get inside, but it seems as if my hopes of escape are slimmer than I had thought possible." With that the doors to the room opened and he entered. The examination room was like the rest of the hospital, white and not a single trace of decoration, but it had a large window with a view overlooking the city.

As well as the three moons in the sky.

"I'm not sure I want to hear the explanation for that." He said as he looked at the sky. The AI seemed to notice his stare and he could have sworn he heard a sigh.

"Slim indeed…"

* * *

><p><strong><em>UNSC Marauder<em>**

"So the year is 2550 and we're on an alien planet called Roost…

"It's not an alien planet, the humans colonized the planet before the covenant attacked. In other words, it's a human colonial planet." The holographic woman corrected him.

"Right, a colonial planet called Roost several light-years away from Earth. For the last thirty years, humanity has been at war with an alien race called The Covenant…"

"The Covenant is actually a collection of alien races comprised of Prophets, Elites, Jackals, Grunts and Brutes. Hunters are also counted in the covenant as their numbers are fewer than the rest, but they technically outnumber the other species because a single hunter his made up from several Lekgolo worms…"

"Okay, a collection of aliens called the covenant with advanced technology which wanted to eradicate humanity for some reason. A little less than two weeks ago, a covenant fleet somehow found and attacked the planet, killing pretty much anyone in their path. They began to `glass´ the planet, but stopped as their ships were crippled by the planet's defences. Now they're on the ground and are searching for something. Is that right?" he asked.

They were in the examination room and after a thorough examination which she pretty much used every machine in the room to prod and sting him with a variety of needles and contraptions, he got her to explain the situation. While he sat down on the bench, she had materialized from a console in dark green light particles. It was almost hypnotizing to watch, if it weren't for the fact that she was still wearing that strange outfit and was literally made out of green light. That was very distracting.

In the end, he had decided to fake amnesia. It was simply too dangerous for him to say he had travelled forward in time and had landed on a different planet by saying he was a wizard and had fallen through a magical object symbolizing the boundary between life and death. He didn't think anyone would think he was telling the truth or they would just call him crazy and lock into a padded cell. Heck, he might be lucky and get both.

"Yes, pretty much. You're taking this rather well for someone who has amnesia; most patients who lose their memories either cry or have violent fits when they realize all the time they have lost. I would have thought waking up in the middle of an alien attack would have warranted some kind of bonus reaction, like suicidal rage or hysterical singing. It would have been a humorous scene, I'm sure." The holographical woman said. Whether she was being honest or pulling his leg was almost impossible to tell due to the low resolution of the holograph, but he was pretty sure she was trying to crack a joke. Her sense of humour left much to be admired though, especially considering the severity of the situation.

"How do you know I'm not freaking out? I might be very good at hiding my psychological instabilities. I might just be a raving lunatic for all you know." He said in response, a desire to give her some payback for the joke. He was most certainly panicking, he just wasn't showing it. Containing your emotions was the first lesson he had to master while learning Occlumency. Hiding a panic attack or two was nothing compared to having to study potions under Snape.

"True, I have zero information about your mental condition and this facility was focused on biological research, but I have enough knowledge of psychology to know whether or not you possessed psychotic or sociopathic tendencies from the conversation we had. The revelation of your coma was enough to shock you, but for someone with psychological issues it wouldn't have affected you to such a degree. Further testing is required, but I'm 78% certain you are stable enough to be trusted for now. In any case, you are the only person I've seen alive in two months so I'm fairly sure you are my last hope of getting out of here."

And she shot him down like a bird out of the sky. His witty one-liners and comebacks didn't seem to faze the AI as she simply responded in turn with either an even more witty one-liner or with a scientifically overwhelming response he couldn't retaliate against without looking like a fool.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" he asked, tired of their little verbal game of chess.

"I don't know." She said with nothing but honesty in her voice.

"You don't know?"

"I don't know." She repeated.

"What do you mean with `I don't know´?" he asked once more, his head feeling the small headache growing by the minute.

"Precisely what it sounds like. When the evacuation started, the Roostinian military fortified itself in several key positions of the city to better defend it from the invasion. The hospital was one of those locations, quite unfortunately I might add, as the wounded and the dying were brought in and the workload on the doctors increased in proportion to the violence. As I was the AI in charge of the facility, I heard every order and conversation made and I can therefore safely say that all the other outposts fell by the time they evacuated the hospital. Since they didn't think I held any information concerning the location of Earth or military operations, I was deemed to be of lesser use and importance than more valuable AIs. There are hardly any military personnel left and none of them are worthy an evac." Was there a hint of indignation he detected as the spoke the last part? Was she feeling hurt by the fact that they had left her behind?

"So what can we do? If the military left us behind, how are we supposed to leave the planet? Can we use…uh, one of those, pelicans?" He tried to remember the name of the crashed plane she had showed him in a monitor.

"Not if we want to reach a populated planet before your bones turn to dust. The closest planet is light-years away from here and the pelicans aren't capable of Slipspace travel. We'll need a ship capable of Faster-Than-Light travel if we are to leave the planet safely, preferably a military ship. Failing that, we could try using a pelican to find some kind of ship while in space, but it's not an option we should try without having exhausted all other options." She answered while analysing some sort of small text she held in her tiny holographic hands.

"So where do we find a ship then?" He didn't think military ships which could travel through `Slipspace´ were sold in your average mall.

"Under normal circumstances, we would find them in any of the military bases or in-orbit near the space elevators, but since we are under attack and the UNSC hasn't intervened in any way, it's safe to assume any and all ships were destroyed leaving and communications are being disrupted. Either that or the UNSC don not think we are worth the effort to save in favour of guarding their inner colonies. The shipyards would also be eliminated since they would hold at least a few flight-capable ships. Not something I would like to think about, but our options are limited. In other words, I have no idea how to get off the planet." She finished.

"So what would you suggest we do until you have an idea?" He said through the helmet. The blinking lights had stopped and were currently showing a number of things, including a compass, a map, a 3D model of his body, a battery representing how much energy the helmet had left, a flashlight icon showing the letters OFF, a small window showing the written down version of their conversation, Some kind of icon representing night vision, a motion sensor and how much oxygen it had saved up amongst several others he didn't think he would ever need. While he liked the many features it had, the large variety of icons took up the majority of his vision and he had to focus on the AI holograph not to get lost in the jungle of objects clouding his vision.

"The first thing we need to do is leave the hospital. The covenant is searching for something and their patrols are increasing in this area. We've managed to survive this long for some reason, but if they find a human survivor and an AI, they won't hesitate to destroy you and capture me. Once they decide to have a closer look in the hospital you'll be killed without a moment's notice. For now… What are you doing?" she asked him, confusion all over her face.

"I'm trying to get rid of all these damn icons, they're all over my face! How am I supposed to walk with these damn pictures covering my eyes all the bloody time?" he said while trying different solutions to getting rid of the superfluous functions the helmet had to offer. Why would he want a model of his body in front of his eyes if he was trying to escape an alien invasion? Or a chat window for that matter?

"Oh, for the love of… What is the serial number of the helmet?"

"Oh… uh, it's ZVN223." He said in response.

"Just say out loud `ZVN223, deactivate function 1,2,3,4 etc…´ The function number is the number at the bottom-left of the icon." Exasperation visible in her voice.

He tried her method and the model and the chat window disappeared. He continued, leaving only the map, compass, flashlight, battery and night vision visible. Finally able to see once more, he focused on the AI.

"Are you done?" She had apparently not enjoyed his distraction from the topic.

"Quite."

"Good, as I was saying, we'll need to leave the hospital, but before that, you need to arm yourself. The military left a portable armoury when they evacuated so there should still be some weapons left. I wouldn't get my hopes up too much though." Not the kind of encouragement he had been hoping for. Not that he was used to muggle weapons, having only used them once in a training exercise, if he had to use a weapon then he wanted to have a good weapon at least.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he enquired.

"Roost isn't exactly known for its advanced technology. In fact compared to UNSC or the other outer colonies that have survived the war so far, Roost is positively primitive. Most of our technology is bought from the UNSC decades after the technology is released in the inner colonies. Even now the weapons we consider to be high-tech are seen as old in most UNSC colonies. Even when using UNSC strategies and tactics, the military is still unable to defend itself against a numerically inferior fleet. Whatever weapons you find will not give you the upper hand in a firefight." She answered his question with simple and harsh facts, not giving him time to prepare himself for the answer.

Well, that was a depressing thought. Since he didn't have his wand, whatever magic he used would have to be wandless or through a medium like runes or glyphs. It effectively limited his magic to preparations and planning. What little wandless magic he could use was weaker than with a wand and he doubted he could take down an alien with a wandless stupefy.

"I guess there's no time like the present then. Lead the way, Oh Fearless Digital One." He said and the path in front of him lit up with a green arrow showing the way to the armoury.

"You know, under all this time, you never told me your name. Not even during the examination did you tell me what your name is." The synthetic voice said in curiosity. Harry smiled under his helmet, not stopping he followed the path.

"It's Harry Potter." He said.

"So… does that mean I can change your ID-tag to Hairy Potty?"

"Very funny, but no. I gave you my name, so what's your name then?"

"For security reasons, I'm unable to tell you what my name is. Once we get out of the hospital I'll be able to tell you, but until then you'll have to bear it." The woman said, her pleasure of knowing something Harry didn't obvious to anyone who listened.

"Come on, tell me! It's not like you have anything better to do in here."

"Changing your ID-tag to Hairy Potty it is." Once more, the mirth was back. This time it had company in the form of humour.

"Don't you dare, I will leave you here in the hospital if you do!"

* * *

><p><strong><em>UNSC Marauder<em>**

"So what's the code to the locker?" he asked his AI companion. She responded, this time through the monitor of a computer close by, the destruction of her holographic projector the cause of her change in appearance.

"It's 9281."

"Kind of simple, don't you think?" Four numbers to a locker filled with weapons and armour didn't seem very safe.

"Do you want to be stuck putting in a ten-number long code when aliens attack in full force? Only to start all over again when you push the wrong number?"

"…"

"Didn't think so."

"Oh hush."

Opening the locked he took a look inside. It didn't look like a locker at all, it resembled an entire room more than anything. Rows of weapons, hung up on shelves, followed each other as they were neatly sorted into different categories. They looked a lot more… primitive than he thought they would look. He had been expecting some sort of plasma rifle or stunner, but instead they looked like artistic versions of the firearms in his age. Kind of made sense though, when he thought about it; if it's not broken, why fix it?

"This is what I was afraid of." The woman's synthetic melody emanated from the speaker of the monitor.

"What do you mean?"

"These weapons are outdated by a large margin. Not as much as they could have been, but most of them predate the covenant-human war which has lasted almost thirty years so far. The armour looks relatively new though, perhaps it's made by a developer local to Roost?" the hospital-AI said with curiosity. Since when did a nurse have an interest in weapons?

"Are you sure you're a hospital-AI? 'Cause you sure as hell don't act like it, aside from the whole medical talk and all that." He asked the sentient piece of software. The woman inside the monitor seemed almost insulted by his question.

"I'll have you know I happen to be a Smart AI. Unlike those Dumb AIs who can only specialize in a single field, I can learn and adapt to several functions without the need of reprogramming. And if you had to deal with injuries in the ER, you would learn a lot about the weapons capable of creating them as well." She crossed her arms and he could swear she was frowning at him, blaming him for whatever he had said.

He shrugged, not interested in fighting an intelligent program which happened to be his only chance of survival against the threat of the aliens. "Okay, which one do you think would have the best chance against the covenant then?" he said while reaching out for a rifle.

"I wouldn't take that one if I were you. The Sniper Rifle requires more skill than you possess, as your inexperience with weapons and amnesia seem to suggest. Take the one farthest to the left, yes that's the one." He took out a rifle, testing its weight in his hands and tried to aim with it. The rifle had some kind of screen on the top as well as a flashlight.

"That's the MA37 ICWS. It's not exactly the most modern piece of equipment, but it's so reliable it can still be used in combat to this day. All rifles in the MA5-series are decades old and have only had small changes in their basic designs. This is the oldest of them all and is considered to be the original MA5. They are going to stop the production of it soon, but it can still compare to newer rifles, such as the MA5C. The LED screen on top has a compass and shows how much ammo you have left. It's an assault rifle so be mindful of how fast you spend your bullets. Being trapped in battle with an empty clip is not something either of us wants. It is good for close range, but the accuracy decreases at distances longer than a hundred meters and when firing long bursts. Put it on the table and grab the pistol underneath the shotgun." He did as she said and grabbed the large pistol. It was larger and heavier than the small snub-nosed revolver he had tried in the training exercise as an auror, but if the iron sight-principle was similar then he should be able to get used to it. At least, he hoped he would.

"It's called the M6H and it's one of the M6-series, one of the most reliable weapon series ever made. Easy to use, powerful and perfect for whatever fool who needs them, they are more accurate than the MA5-series if you know how to use one. The ammunition for the MA37 and the M6H are the most common in both the UNSC and the Roostinian army so you'll find plenty of both on the streets. Leave it with the rifle and walk over to the power supplies; we don't have much time before we should leave."

"Shouldn't I take a shotgun as well? It looks like it could come in handy." He said, eyeing the black shotgun with excitement. He had seen his fair share of movies where the protagonist used a shotgun and it had triggered an interest in the weapon, pun intended.

"Not unless you wish to feel your shoulder be dislocated from not knowing how to use it and letting the recoil take you out instead of the covenant. Besides, carrying two rifles will tire you out faster than one rifle and a pistol. Now go to the Power station, we don't have a lot of time."

The power supplies were in fact just large batteries mean to go on the back of the armour. While they weren't necessary for every soldier, they were meant to extend the use of the helmet and its many functions. The helmet itself possessed a solar battery and could recharge itself if left unused, the power supply mean tit could be used for longer durations if under attack and recharging was impossible. Of course, it went under the armour to protect against the stray bullet hitting it and killing the soldier who was fried by the electric current released into his metal protection. Once he had chosen the only remaining battery, he had to get the armour on.

He walked over to the armour portion of the locker room. It, like the weapons, resembled a flak jacket and leg armour he had seen on the news and in the movies, except it looked far more advanced and streamlined. It looked more as if someone had taken several thin plates of steel and formed them to cover the human body with as much coverage as possible. Several different parts of the armour filled the shelves and he needed the AI's help in putting them on correctly. It took him over thirty minutes before he was done, but by then he couldn't even look at the armoury. The experience of putting on armour incorrectly and having to do it all over again was frustrating enough that once he was done he threw the doors together with force than he should have.

The noise of the doors slamming shut echoed throughout the building and he felt his frustration disappear with each echo. Hr was about to pick up the rifle when the AI spoke once more.

"Wait." She said.

"Not really in the mood for this, if you tell me I'm wearing the armour wrong one more time, I'll…" he started, but was interrupted by the AI.

"Shut up and let me think." She said, but not with her usual elegance and hidden humour. Her voice was hurried and stressed, as if afraid of something. Finally she looked straight at him.

"There are covenant forces in the hospital." She said. Harry's eyes widened as she spoke.

"How do you know?" She should have noticed them before they came close to the hospital, right? The hospital had cameras by the entrance, didn't they?

"They're using cloaking devices to stay invisible and undetected. When you slammed the doors shut they reacted at the noise and one of them knocked over a flowerpot which alerted the cameras. They're by the reception right now and it'll take them ten minutes to get here. We need to leave, NOW." She said in a hurried voice as she manipulated the screens in front of her in the monitor.

"How do I get you out of here? Aren't you kind of stuck with the hospital?" The urgency in her voice had caused him to act the same, his heartbeats quickening and his breaths becoming slightly irregular. Adrenaline was beginning pump into his blood and his mind becoming clearer.

"Hold on, I'm creating a data chip and downloading myself on it. There, go to the console." As she said it, a small crystal-like rectangle emerged from the console next to the monitor. "When you take the chip, insert it into the back of the helmet and I'll be able to talk to you over the interface." Talking the small chip, he carefully placed it into the small connection in the helmet. A small window appeared on the visor, depicting a woman made from green light wearing a neon outfit, though thankfully the window wasn't large enough to show anything below her chest down, sparing him the distraction of staring at the blindingly bright woman.

"Hello, Mr 497. I have to say, the helmet really is a shame and pity, you're more attractive than most men who come into this hospital. Though most of them tend to be seriously injured so I guess that's not a point in your favour." She said as a joke, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Can you tell me how to get out of this place first before we get attacked by the aliens? I don't fancy having a run-in with them before I even learn how to use a gun." He said as he picked up the weapons. He was about to put the pistol in his pocket when the gun flew and attached itself to the armour plate on his thigh.

"What happened?" He asked the woman in his helmet.

"It's the magnetism of the armour, it keeps the firearms from falling out of their holsters. It does the same to the rifle, but don't put it away. We might need the firepower." Lifting the rifle off the table, he felt the metal and plastic cold against his hands. The gun felt heavy in his hands, but he ignored the weight. He needed to feel as light as possible, like back in the day when he was dodging curses before breakfast.

"Alright, now tell me how I get out of here." He said, already pumping himself up for the possible confrontation.

"Sure thing, _Sir_." She said, drawing out the _Sir_ in a classic attempt to tease him. "Since the elites are the only ones who use cloaking modules, I can safely say it's elites we're dealing with here. They're the military leaders of the covenant, though since the covenant splintered after the war, I'm not sure how the army is structured. I know for a fact that this fleet in particular consists of elites, hunters, grunts and Jackals. There are at least three of them, but I haven't seen any grunts or jackals yet. Go through the emergency exit, the power is reserved for important system so the alarm will have shut down."

He did as she told him and ran to the back door. Opening it as quietly and quickly as possible, he was met with a long flight of stairs. Running down the steps, he was surprised at how low his stamina was.

"Why am I… so tired?" He asked out loud. He had played quidditch and trained with aurors, he should be in peak physical condition.

"You've been in a coma for two years now, dum-dum. Even if your muscle mass didn't fade away completely, your stamina will disappear soon regardless. I guess this will be something I can write down in your chart, `Subject… I mean, patient may possess a small part of the muscles he had before he went into a coma, but he still shows signs of decrease in stamina´. See, I take care of my chauffeur." The voice said with barely concealed laughter, though thankfully she had not shown up in a screen on his visor. He needed his eyes to watch the steps.

"I'm your… chauffeur now…., am I?" He asked her in annoyance.

"Of course you are. Now, chop-chop, I want be away from this dreadful place by today!"

"Should have… left back… in the screen…."

He reached the last step and he had to support himself against the wall. His legs were like jelly and his breathing laboured. Two years in a coma really did a number on your body. Ten flights of stairs would have been nothing to him before he was betrayed, but now he could barely breathe after the strain.

"What's the situation.. with the elites?" he asked the voice in his head, panting as he did so.

"They're still going through the building room by room. It'll take the elites hours to search the entire building even if they rush the search so we should be fine as long as we don't make too much noise. We took the emergency exit so we completely bypassed the ones in the building, but it's the reinforcements I'm worried about." The peeping tom in his head said with concentration.

"Reinforcements? What kind?"

"Most elites have grunts or jackals under their command. Since I didn't see any of them in the building, there might be a squad of them nearby. Check the rooftops for snipers, jackals have a nasty habit of sniping from the rooftops with plasma rifles." Her warning made him snap his head towards the rooftops of the buildings nearby, but he didn't see any sign of any snipers. It might be night, but the moonlight from three different moons made it a lot brighter than any night back on earth. Instead of the yellow light of the sun, the white light of the moon made it easy to scan the edges of the roofs for enemies even without the night vision function of the helmet.

"I don't see anyone up there; do you see anything with the cameras?" He couldn't divide his attention to both the roof and the corners. If the AI could search the corners in his stead he could focus his attention on the possible snipers. Not that he would be able to take them out since he barely knew how to use the rifle, but knowing the enemies position was better than not knowing.

"Sorry, I only have eyes on the hospital's front and interior. After you snatched me from the console I lost the ability to access the local network. I'll need to access a console to hack into the security cameras outside the hospital and…"

"We don't have time to do that since the aliens will catch up to us if we try it, right?" he finished for her.

"Yes, how did you know?" Her reply was filled with honest surprise.

"These things tend to happen to me, I think. I get the strangest sense of Déjà vu, like every time I needed to do something there is always something that tries to kill me before I can do it." Quirrel, the basilisk, catching Pettigrew and saving Sirius, pretty much his entire fourth year, the Department of Mysteries, the cave with Dumbledore and the rest of his life was like that. It was mindboggling how he had survived so far without being crippled or worse along the way.

"I think we need to have a long examination again when we find a safe place to hide. You are keeping way too many secrets from me and I intend to find out how many." The synthetic voice said with poorly hidden interest.

"You can try, nurse, but my lips are sealed."

"We'll see about that. Concentrate on the task at hand for now; I wouldn't want you to get killed before I can get to know you better. Since you managed to catch your breath, get going. I'll search the maps I have of the area and try to find some place to hide out."

"Okay, milady. Try to hurry up, would you? Walking around aimlessly is not something I want to do with aliens that are trying to kill me around."

Sneaking across the back alleys of the city, he was amazed by the fact that it was considered to be primitive. The buildings looked more futuristic than most science fiction-series he had watched. The cars, signs, even the clothing on the dead people around him looked hi-tech enough to make an Apple-fan boy faint in delight. The entire place looked like the wet dream of some hard core trekkie. Heck, even the benches were covered in holograms depicting some kind of political campaign led by Daniell Thomson, though by the look of the guy, he had probably bailed out as soon as the covenant arrived, if his likeness to a certain blonde-haired ferret was any indication.

Even so, the back alleys will always be back alleys. The garbage covering the ground, filthy shelters and barrel-bonfires everywhere you looked, the dead homeless people whom it was hard to tell the ones who died during the attack and those who had killed each other apart were just a few of the indicators which told him that the city needed help, help it would never get since everyone had been killed before they could receive the aid. He wanted to leave, to get out of the dark narrow paths and walk back into the bright streets bathed in moonlight, except he couldn't. The covenant probably watched the road, shooting anyone who took a step outside. Until the AI he was chaperoning could find somewhere to hide, he was forced to stay here in the dirty little secret of the city, hidden from view and light.

How had the aliens killed the people so fast? According to his digital companion, the planet had millions of inhabitants, more than enough to put up a reasonable fight. Even if the covenant had tried to glass the planet, there should have been enough survivors to put up some kind of rescue effort. Instead, most of the people were lying on the streets, lined up one after another as if waiting to be killed. Did the covenant have so much control on the people's fear? Or was it something else behind it all?

Either way, it didn't matter to him now. The important thing was… what was the important thing? Finding a place to hide? Getting off the planet? What would he do then? Get back to earth, start a new life as some nameless cog in the machine and die at old age? Was that his goal? Did he have a goal even? After he killed Voldemort, his life had pretty much stopped. What was he going to do, now that he had an entire new planet and time to adapt to?

The sound of… something snapped him out of his thoughts and the reflexes he gained from quidditch was the only thing saving him from the bright blue… something slicing through the air in the exact same spot his chest had been moments earlier. When he had heard the strange lightsaber activate, he had thrown himself on the ground to avoid what would definitely have been a killing blow. His back groaned in protest at his impromptu dive and he agreed with its sentiments. Rolling away from the unknown attacker, he was almost stunned by what he saw.

A strange blue pincer hung in the air, the blue blades of it made from some odd energy he had never seen before. The pincer simply hung in the air and as if it had a mind of its own. No, there was something there, a distortion in the light. Something was holding the pincer of light and aiming it at him, the cyan light giving off a fine mist as it moved.

He didn't hesitate in raising the rifle and to start firing. The assault rifle fired round after round with shoulder-breaking force. He felt the recoil hit his arm and he would have winced at the pain if he cared about his shoulder's functionality. As it were, he was only focused on surviving the encounter with the alien and keeping his aim straight, even as the gun in his hands was doing everything in its power to throw his aim up into the air.

The invisible creature didn't seem to mind though, as it came closer and closer if the fluctuations in the air was any indication. Arcs of electricity and plasma covered its entire body, revealing a humanoid form with a firm grip on the blue blade-like pincer. As the rounds continued to impact on the alien's barely visible body, small pieces of armour could be seen. Only little patches at first, but as the clip began to empty, Harry could finally see his attacker.

The enemy was covered in dark blue armour covering most of its body except for its arms. The skin was dark grey and the head completely bald, revealing four different jaws filled with sharp teeth. The entity seemed to be hunching over with its head extending further than any other part of its body by at least a foot. The most frightening thing about it was its face. While the teeth and jaws was discomforting, its eyes filled with hate and anger was something Harry had not seen in a long time. It was a look Voldemort could be seen wearing before he cast the killing curse. It wasn't a face Harry liked seeing very much.

As the gun stopped firing and the trigger gave a clicking noise signalling its empty clip, the now revealed foe swung its weapon as it entered striking range. He knew he was dead if the blades of the sword touched him so he stepped back as far as he could to avoid it. The attempt was a partial success as the blade missed his chest by a hair's breadth, but managed to hit the metal protecting his thigh. The metal simply parted as the cyan blade met it, but the fatigues underneath the armour was left intact. The alien continued the strike, having put his entire weight behind the swing and was now resisting the momentum for another strike. Harry put his reflexes to good use as he used the stock of the rifle to hit the creature's head. Had he been in good physical condition, the enemy would have been knocked out from the hit, but his weakened muscles didn't pack nearly enough of a punch to achieve the expected result. The metal frame of the gun struck the two left jaws of the monster and probably broke them, but it only seemed to enrage the alien as it swung its foot and kicked his chest.

He flew a couple of feet in the air, his small weight and the force of the kick being enough to send him packing. He landed with a deep `THUD´ on the ground and his back once more began its annoying protest. He growled at the pain and saw the monster advance on him once more, sword in hand to end his life.

He gripped the pistol on his leg and aimed it at the skull of his enemy. The first round missed entirely, striking the wall behind it and blasting off a piece of brick. He gripped the gun with both hands for better aim and the second bullet at least hit the alien, even if it struck the armour and bounced off it like rubber. The third hit again, except this time something happened. The light show going on over its armour disappeared in a series of sparks. The alien stopped at this, surprised at the result. Something was happening, something it didn't like. He aimed the gun again, as the alien increased its speed and and squeezed the trigger.

The head of the monster erupted in a blue fountain of blood and it collapsed, dead.

He stared at the dead body, not knowing what to do. He had killed it, but what was he supposed to do afterwards. He needed to leave, his friends must have heard the shots. His breath was rapid once more and his vision was blurry, the lack of oxygen in his muscles and brain making him lightheaded.

"Harry, I found it." The synthetic voice broke the silence and he almost pulled the trigger in surprise. He stopped his trigger-happy finger however, just in time to focus his attention on the small screen with the female AI in it.

"Where?"

"300 meters north of here, in an apartment complex next to the river. It's safe enough because the covenant have focused their forces around the bases of the military. Since they have already searched the alpha base of the military, they are sending out most of their forces to locate the rest of them. The apartment complex is close to the Alpha base, but not near enough that they can see you enter it. Once you get into the building, you should be clear from any hostile forces. I'll bring up a mini-map on your HUD now." A small map appeared where she had been moments earlier of a satellite picture of the city. A green little man represented him while the small green house meant the building.

"Okay, so what was… that thing?" he asked panting, his curiosity overriding his caution as he started walking in direction of the building. The kick of the alien had taken his breath out and his lungs were trying to start back up again.

"An elite, but probably not a very experienced one. It was using a sword which meant it had at least good pedigree behind it, but it behaved like an amateur compared to some of the elites I've seen outside the hospital. The lack of a full suit of armour suggests it wasn't as experienced as the rest of its kind. I didn't think elites could show such acts of arrogance, interesting…"

"So it was like a… a rich kid earning a high position in… the army because of who his daddy is?" the fact that he might have killed the alien version of Draco Malfoy did a little to ease his guilt over having killed a living creature, even if it might have been trying to kill him.

"Maybe, but the elites don't have the same view on parenthood as we do. Let's go to the complex, we have little time before his friends show up and I want to take a look at the Alpha base. Also, check your ammo, I warned you about keeping your ammo close at hand. "

"Are you sure you're not a military AI?"

"Of course, why would you ask?" the confused woman responded.

"It just seems strange that you'd want to get closer to an army base crawling with aliens. It sounds like something a soldier would do, or what a suicidal soldier would do." He said, trying to sound as honest as possible, though the sincerity could be questioned since his lips were being tugged into a smile as he said it. The small banter helped keep his mind off things, like the blue blood lying all over the ground behind him and his shoes.

"Are you going to the complex or not? 'Cause I don't want to stay out here with the covenant any longer than necessary." The reply was short and concise and he drew a small satisfaction at the fact that he managed to one-up her. He did however reach for a full clip and insert it into the rifle. Getting the empty magazine out of the stock of the gun was a bit of a hassle, but with the green lady's help he was able to do it on the second try. At least the pistol was easier, he had some experience with revolves and handguns thanks to his auror training.

Walking three-hundred meters would have taken a few minutes at most even if he was walking slowly, but when he couldn't take the open roads and had to stick to the small alleys while keeping an eye out for things trying to kill him, the time really did stretch out. In the end, he spent almost fifteen minutes getting to the apartment building she had shown him. While his tired legs appreciated the slow pace, his mind didn't enjoy the silence and the time it took him to reach it at all. Once he entered the apartment on the top floor, he collapsed on the bed in one of the rooms. The soft madras didn't help as much through his armour, but he had spent too much time to take it off for just a nap.

"Well, now that we left the hospital, I think we can celebrate a little. What do you suggest, champagne or white wine?" the artificial woman in his head said. The small screen in his helmet appeared once more and she was holding two bottles made of green light and she looked as if she was judging which one of them was the better choice.

"Can you even drink?" He asked her, his curiosity overstepping his tact. She didn't seem to mind though, as she simply continued her inspection of the two bottles of artificial light.

"As a matter of fact, no. Since I'm a digital creation, my body cannot intake of organic substances. It doesn't mean I can't remember it though and try to mimic the sensation."

"That's right, you said Smart AIs are copies of human beings. So who are you copied from?" The question had left his mouth before he realized what he had asked. Maybe it was personal information to ask something like that, or they were ashamed of whom they had been copied from?

The woman smiled, her teasing ways coming back to surface. "Oh, that's a secret. I can't tell just about anyone that kind of information, though I might tell you that once I get to know you."

Harry sighed in resignation. "Fine, but at least tell me your name. We're out of the hospital right now so you should be able to do that." She seemed to consider the request, as though she didn't think he deserved to know her name for some reason.

"Okay, you earned that much I guess, though your poor physique leaves much to be desired. I am the AI formerly in charge of Saint George's Hospital for Medicine and Research, the glorious digital queen called Hedwig."

Harry didn't answer.

"What's wrong? Are you so stunned by the majestic elegance of my name that you cannot express your newfound devotion to my being? That's quite alright, it is only proper that the more noble people of the world tolerate the unintelligent stares of the lesser fortunate."

Hedwig.

He didn't know what to say. The name Hedwig brought back so many memories, most of them good, but some bad. The night when she had been killed, the nightmares that followed. His first friend in his life, the only friend he could ever trust implicitly and without question. He hadn't even found her body, not even after using every single spell made for searching. Though it was to be expected, the body of an owl made for a delicious meal for any scavenger.

He had known the AI for less than three hours and it turned out that the only person he knew in an entirely new time and planet had the same name as the first friend he ever had.

"Umm, are you okay? I was joking earlier, you know? Hello? Helloooooo?"

Was it fate? Was it making him bite yet another lemon and laughing as he had to fight through the experience? As if the death of his first friend wasn't enough, as if the betrayal of his later friends wasn't enough, as if the prophecy about him dying to defeat a dark lord wasn't enough? Now it had to twist the knife as well?

"Now I'm seriously worried about you. Can you please answer me?!" the AI said. Hedwig said…

Hedwig said.

Hedwig.

"Harry, answer me! Answer me or I swear I will change your ID-tag to…

"Good night, Hedwig." He responded, taking off his helmet and putting it on the table. The connection the helmet had to his neural implants didn't seem to object as it simply disconnected when he pulled it off.

"Uh… good night, I guess." Hedwig the AI said in response, perplexed by his reaction. Not that he would blame her for it, he just felt like he was replacing his oldest friend for someone he had just met. It was silly, downright stupid, but it was the first time he had met someone named Hedwig since his owl had died and the shock of it took him by surprise.

"Wake me up when it's time to move. You're the expert on this place so you should be able to create some sort of plan. It doesn't have to be a good one, just make sure we have something to do tomorrow."

The AI didn't respond from its place in the helmet, but he knew the woman had gotten the message. He got the feeling they were going to be busy when he woke up.

* * *

><p><strong><em>UNSC Marauder<em>**

"Wake up. Harry, wake up! Why do you always have to sleep whenever I try to talk to you? Can't you adapt to other people's sleep cycle for once?" Hedwig's voice brought him out of his dreams. The AI was talking to him through the helmet's small speakers and the speakers might be good enough when the helmet was on the head, but when it was over four foot away it didn't have nearly the same quality. The grainy noise was barely coherent enough for him to understand it and he was barely four away. He must have moved in his sleep because he had been able to hear her perfectly the night before. Grabbing the sci-fi looking helmet, he put it on.

"Hello to you too, Hedwig. Slept well?" he asked her. He still didn't know how to act around her, knowing that she shared the name of his owl. The best thing he could do right now was to out a façade, a friendly face until he could form an opinion about her.

"AIs don't require sleep. All we need is something to keep us busy, something to keep us from being bored. Having nothing to do is basically torture for us. So no, I did not sleep well since I didn't sleep at all. I've been busy trying to interpret the signals the covenant is sending. How about you, did you sleep well?" The rapid response of the AI was almost like a tidal wave, every word coming in all at once. He almost lost himself in the stream of words that the woman in the small screen said, but he managed to understand it all somehow.

Why had she been complaining about other people's sleep cycle if she wasn't able to sleep?

"For your information, I will never again sleep in armour. It's pure torture on your back and the rest of the body isn't feeling any better either." His back was already ruined from having slept on it for two years and the uneven surface of the armour wasn't doing it any favours.

"If I had hands I could give you a backrub, but unfortunately I don't. Go to the kitchen, you can eat while I explain what we need to do."

After finding a computer he could upload her into and setting it up in the kitchen, he began making breakfast. It wasn't until the smell of bacon and eggs was filling the kitchen that he noticed his stomach was empty and screaming at him for sustenance. Sitting down and devouring his food, he began to listen to the green woman in the screen as she started talking.

"I've been thinking about what we should do from now on and our options are, as I said earlier, extremely limited." She started with her hands on a map of the city.

"Getting off the planet is going to be extremely hard, aside from the fact that there are a bunch of aliens trying to kill us. Since smaller aircraft aren't equipped with a Slipspace engine, we can't take a pelican or any other small military deployment vessel in the city. The merchant vessels have likewise been destroyed by this point since they weren't built to withstand the damage the covenant can dish out, which means we have to find some kind of military starship which can enter Slipspace and has sufficient shielding to withstand the weapons the covenant ships have."

"And where would we find such a ship?" he asked, repeating his question from the day before.

"Like I said, in normal circumstances, we could find a ship like that on a military base or a military shipyard. But all the known shipyards were destroyed and the same happened with the bases. We wouldn't be able to find a way out through them even if we knew how to get to them. The solution to our problem would be if the military had some kind of hidden base where the covenant wouldn't be able to find it with just heir scanners." She had apparently been thinking really hard about it because the victorious grin on her face couldn't be mistake.

"So a secret base with a military ship, how would we find that kind of base? If the covenant couldn't find it even though they have more advanced technology then we do, then how are we supposed to find it? It feels like we're setting ourselves up to fail from the get-go." He said.

"The covenant has to scan from orbit with damaged scanners from the MAC-guns while the ground forces have to use substandard AI to break through the encrypted files and sort through the garbage and decoys required to get to the classified information in the servers. We don't need to do that because I was able to acquire a large amount of access codes while the military was based in my hospital. If we can get inside the Alpha base and I can upload myself onto their servers, I can find any hidden or secret projects they had, such as experimental weapons and ships. As long as they haven't wiped everything clean to stop the covenant from getting their hands on it, I can get inside and find what we need." The visor covering her eyes seemed to gleam with excitement as she revealed her plan.

"Are you sure you can do that? You're not a military AI, you're in charge of a hospital. Even if you have access to some key codes, that doesn't mean you can break into all their files." In the movies he had seen the AI always had some kind of restriction to it. Expecting an AI meant for observing patients to break into a classified military project was a bit too much.

Hedwig looked affronted at his question. "Once more, I'm a Smart AI. I can learn more to do more than just what I was made for. I spent quite a lot of time hacking into the files of the general after they left in order to alleviate my sense of boredom. I might not be as efficient as I'd like to be, but I can manage most files. Please don't' underestimate me, I can handle myself."

As he continued with eating his first solid meal in two, or five-hundred years depending on how you counted, he thought about the plan. Break into the military headquarters and hope they hadn't deleted everything, find a secret base, _travel_ to the secret base and steal a ship with just two people as a crew. It didn't seem possible.

"How are we supposed to fly it?" he asked. It just occurred to him the problem. He didn't know how to fly a starship. Give him a broom and he'd be doing loop after loop, but he had no idea how to use fly a ship. Hedwig was… a hospital AI so she shouldn't' have any experience with aircrafts.

"That's one of the problems I thought of as well. Normal starships have crews to take control of it and even small frigates require a crew of thirty people. If I was a military or ship AI then I could probably do it alone with just a single person, but since I don't have the experience I will have to learn how to pilot a ship. If I can get my hands on the ship's programming code and training simulations then I can learn most of it, but it'll be tough. I wouldn't be able to do any of the manual tasks required in piloting it so you'll have to learn with me. It would be for the best if we could find a few other people who could help us." She said, wringing her hands in a sign of stress or nervousness.

He understood her, and by extension his, dilemma. Even if they find a ship capable of leaving the planet, without a physical crew to manage the ship, it wouldn't fly very well. "How well would you be able to fly it with just you and me?"

She thought about for a second. "I would be able to leave orbit and enter Slipspace with little precision, but only after I've gathered enough data for it, which means flying for a while to get the hang of it. Simulations and instructions will only get us so far, especially when have never flown a ship before. If we want to use the weapons systems though, we would need a crew to handle the rough equations."

"Exactly how large would the group have to be to in order to enter Slipspace and man the guns?"

"A group of experienced crewmen could be as few as three if they could multitask and if I can access the ship's database. If they're normal civilians it would require at least sevenif I have to do the fine-tuning. In the end, thirty would be best since it would free up my processing capability to focus on the important systems. Anything else and my processors would be tied up in different commands from the other stations."

He let out a sigh, frustrated at the lack of options. Even if the plan worked and they got to a ship, they would still be sitting ducks in space without a crew to manage it. Were there even enough humans on the planet for a crew? The covenant had been murdering humans for the last two weeks now; he doubted there were any humans trained enough to act as a crew for an entire ship. The small time span made it sound ridiculous, but with the weapons the aliens had at their disposal, it wasn't exactly impossible. Even if they were able to find thirty human survivors, how were they supposed to keep such a large group alive with the entire city crawling with aliens? They would need magic to deal with it, magic Harry didn't have. All he had were runes and wandless magic. If he had time, he could create something to help them move with a group, but the AI in his helmet would most likely notice his little side-project.

Could he simply say he was a wizard? So far she had not mentioned anything about magic so he had assumed the wizards and witches had remained in secrecy until this day, but what would happen if he revealed what he could do to an AI he didn't know he could trust yet? It could reveal the entire wizarding world and he would be to blame for it. He would actually be guilty of the crime they accused him of for once. He was already executed for a crime he didn't commit; did that mean he would get a freebie if he did commit a crime deserving death? Did that mean he could tell his digital companion of his abilities?

No, not yet, he didn't trust the AI enough to trust her with this kind of secret. Maybe once he got to know her and find out what she could do he would tell her, but until then he was going to keep magic a closely kept secret. Hedwig may have helped him from the covenant (if there had been any covenant in the building to begin with, he wouldn't out it past the AI to make it look like she had saved to just to make him feel like he was in her debt), but he had been betrayed too often in the past to trust anyone so easily.

So if he couldn't tell her about magic, what was he going to do in order to conceal his magical abilities? He could use runes to create a shield to ward off attacks, but she would be able to tell he was if bullets were bouncing off the armour. He'd have to make an excuse to engrave the runes and make sure they were made in such a way people wouldn't be able to see them at a glance. It would hold off bullets, but he wasn't so sure about rockets and grenades.

"So when do we go into the Alpha base?" He asked.

The woman made from green light particles looked at him hesitantly. "When you have managed to work up a decent endurance and can run a block without collapsing on the ground?"

Harry sighed again, this time out of resignation and not from annoyance. "Give me a month and I'll see what I can do.

"I won't hold my breath."

Now he had to start training as soon as he woke up from a coma. Where was Wood when he was needed? If he was going to get back into shape after two years of lying around, he was going to make damn sure he was going to do it fast.

Could he make training weights with runes?


	2. Chapter 2

What's up, my fellow FF-readers!? It's me, Goat13! Once more I bring you a chapter of UNSC Marauder and I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions about this chapter then please read this AN before you ask them. I might answer them in the AN so please read:

**Is Alpha and Omega base real in Haloverse?**

No, I made them up. I have not read any of the books or the graphic novels, but I have read the wiki and I found lots of info I needed for the fanfic which would have been impossible to write without the wiki. A lot of places and people will be created in order to make the fic so you have been warned.

**When in the halo-timeline does this happen?**

It plays out in the year of 2550, two years before the fall of reach and the events of Halo. That means I have two whole years to write about before I get to the good stuff. Be prepared.

**Will Harry be using magic to solve his problems?**

Initially, no. his skill with wandless magic is nowhere near as I have written in my other stories, but there are several factors that will be made known in coming chapters.

**How much will you stick to the Canon?**

As much as I can while still writing an entertaining story. I replay the games if I need more information about the events and I have the wiki on most visited tabs on Google Chrome. In terms of terminology and technology I might fail, but I might also take a bit of artistic license (Though my skill as an artist is so poor I might have my license revoked). Please know I will do everything in my power to stick as much as I can to the Canon, but ultimately it is fanfiction I'm writing.

**Are you a goat?**

I don't think so.

That was all for the AN, please read and review and I hope you enjoy the story!

Peace out!

* * *

><p><strong>UNSC Marauder<strong>

"So what am I doing now?" Harry asked the voice in his helmet.

They were on the rooftop of the apartment complex they were living in. The battle with the elite had been two weeks ago had shown how much he had weakened and his physical training had left much to be desired. His arms had shrunk into the tiny toothpicks they had been most of his life before he became an auror and his stamina was pathetic. He could barely get through a single set of his former training regime. It made him feel like he had spent so much effort for nothing, only to start all over again.

"We're going to teach you how to reload and maintain your weapon." The woman in the helmet said. She was wearing her green lightshow of an outfit again, but at least it wasn't as blinding as it had been at first. She had toned down the brightness when he had asked her, but she was still looking a little like a billboard at a sport event.

"What? I already know how to do that." he protested, but the woman in green waved his arguments away.

"You know an empty clip has to be changed in order to shoot and that's it. What kind of ammunition does your MA37 use? Or the M6H for that matter? How many rounds can your pistol hold? What's a Bullpup Rifle? Explain to me in technical terms what parts of the rifle you use when you reload." The chastisement of the AI was quick and merciless, asking him questions he had no way of answering.

"Uh, I think the gun has ten rounds in a clip." He said, answering the only question he thought he had the answer to.

"Eight rounds, the clips with ten and twelve rounds aren't sold to Roost so all the magazines you find on the planet will have eight shots in them before you have to reload." The correction didn't even have any frustration behind it, merely a sense of resignation.

"Fine, teach me then. It's not like I have anything else to do, except push myself off the floor." He sighed, his tired arms agreeing with him even if he knew he was going to have to train later that day anyway.

"Will do, _sir_. For the record, a Bullpup rifle is a rifle that…" The voice of the holographic woman began its lecture and Harry sighed again.

He had left school years ago so why did he feel like he was back in class with McGonagall?

**UNSC Marauder**

He winced as his muscles ached from the movement he was going through. His arms, his legs, stomach and back, every single part of his body felt like it was bruised and beaten and he knew why. He had forgotten the most basic rule about physical exercise: Don't overdo it.

When he had started training as an auror, his muscles had been used to physical exertion thanks to the countless hours he had spent playing quidditch despite the laidback nature of the sport in terms of physical activity. As a result, his entrance into the Gym had not been entirely unprepared and he had managed to do pretty well for the first week. When the coach increased the regimen however, he had learnt the incredibly important lesson of not biting off more than you can chew. The instructor had meant for it to be a lesson for those who thought they could take on the world, but Harry had never forgiven the man for the experience of lying in bed for a week and groaning in pain every time he moved his arm.

Now he was reliving the nightmare, except he had to move around in the apartment in order to work.

He had managed to connect the computer Hedwig was in to the local network, giving the AI access to the security cameras to keep her occupied as he slunk away to the bathroom as an excuse to perform his magic tricks. If he said the muscle pain made it hard to move he would get maybe thirty minutes of work done, sixty if he said he had stomach issues.

Thirty minutes was good enough. No need to embarrass himself for a lie.

Picking up the steak knife he had pilfered from the kitchen,he checked to see if the tip was sharp enough. The steel of the armour was hard and the pair of tweezers he had used before had not made a scratch on the plates of metal. The knife was sharp though, sharp enough for him to accidentally make a small cut on his thumb in a moment of carelessness. He snatched his hand away from the kitchen tool and brought it to his lips. He contemplated getting the Band-Aids from the medicine cabinet, only to stop himself in mid-action. He would need the blood later however so it wasn't like he had to bandage the wound.

Gripping the dull edge of the blade with his hand, he slowly started to scratch marks onto the surface of the helmet. Tiny runes, barely the size of a grain of rice, began to cover the metal and the pentagons began to connect with each other. Each rune had a meaning, an origin which made them suitable for the task at hand, but together they assimilated each other's purpose and created a different effect altogether.

He would have preferred carving the runes on the inside of the helmet in order to better sense if the array would begin to fail, but the risk of damaging the circuitry made it safer to carve them on the outside than on the inside. Having the visor fill his vision with icons when fighting a group of elites because he had made the crucial error of accidentally cutting a wire he was not supposed to touch was not something he wanted or needed to experience.

What he needed was a shield, first and foremost. The second thing he needed was to reinforce the materials the armour was made out of. The blue blade the elite had been using had cleaved straight through the metal plate which should have protected him. He had gotten lucky the first time against the elite, but he couldn't count on his friends making the same mistakes as he did. If the plating wouldn't protect him, he would have to make sure something did. The Protego might create a shield, but it was too simplistic for the fights against the covenant if the fight with the elite was any indication. The Protego created a frontal shield as long as he held it there, but he needed an omnidirectional shield which was always active and invisible. He could do it, he had made something similar once when he had been inspired by the twins' protective clothing, but he had never tested prototype out due to the dangers of the experimental magic array. He really should have finished the experiment instead of just letting it stay in his house as a monument. All the time he had spent, wasted…

He finished the array, the knife letting out a screeching noise as he slipped on the last rune. Seven pentagons were placed along the bottom of the helmet, a series of thirteen runes connecting each of the pentagons to another. At the back of the helmet, a second line of seven runes extended upwards reaching the top of his visor. He would have liked to use heptagons instead, but the higher numbers in the array, the more powerful effect. He wouldn't have the time to calculate how many runes he would have to disable before his head would be crushed under the combined force of the magic field so he made sure to keep the calculations simple and relatively harmless. At least he knew he would have time to get the helmet off before the array collapsed in a miniature black hole. As long as he made sure Hedwig was ejected before the helmet collapsed under a thousand times its own gravity, he would be good.

Massaging the cut on his thumb in order the make blood to start dripping again, he started coating the runes in a thin layer of crimson liquid. The small carvings seemed to light up in a bright red, but the light disappeared almost immediately along with the blood that was absorbed by the magic inside the array. That was good, it meant it was working and not failing miserably by increasing the gravity to ridiculous proportions. He continued the activation, holding his breath in anticipation and fear. Just as he finished the last rune, the last array seemed to flicker. It was the rune he had slipped when finishing it. That wasn't good, definitely not good. If the force meant to reject incoming matter destabilized and instead attracted it then it would create a small implosion once the array had been depleted. If it did that now then…

He threw the helmet in the sink and took cover in the bathtub, covering his head with his arms and curling up in a ball to minimize injury. How was he going to explain this to Hedwig? Spontaneous implosion of a helmet while he was on the bathroom capable of destroying an apartment? No, he needed to think of a better excuse. Maybe he should have done that before he started working on the array.

Thirty seconds passed. No implosion. A minute passed, no implosion. He peeked over the edge of the bathtub and looked over to the sink. It looked… un-imploded. He threw a shampoo bottle into the sink and ducked down. Nothing happened. He threw a bottle of conditioner into the sink and nothing happened, not even a gravitational pull on the bottles. In fact, the conditioner didn't stay in the sink and instead careened into the toilet. Oh well, he never used conditioner anyway. Except when he felt like shit and wanted to pamper himself.

What? All men do it!

When he came to the conclusion that the array had not failed and turned into a bomb which would destroy the building he was in, he stepped out of the tub. The helmet looked harmless in the sink, the shampoo bottle covering its visor. Gripping the helmet with careful hands, he lifted it to inspect the array. The blinking had stopped and the array had turned back into the dark scratches they had been before he covered them with blood. The blood itself had been absorbed into runes, just like they were supposed to do and the runes looked more like some kind of amateur decoration a soldier would make to look fearsome and deep rather than magical shield array.

It seemed he had succeeded. Not only had he reinforced the armour, but he had actually created a shield array. He felt a grin spread across his face as he fought to keep his laughter down. He had created a fully functional shield array with nothing but a kitchen knife. He had to admit; even a genius would have a hard time replicating what he had done. Did that mean he was greater than a genius?

"Harry, you've been in the bathroom for an hour now, is everything alright?" Hedwig said from the kitchen.

On a second thought, he might actually be an idiot.

_**UNSC Marauder**_

"Our food supply is running low." Harry pointed out.

He was standing in the kitchen and looking into the cupboard. It had been two weeks ago since they had arrived here and Harry had spent most of his time training, learning about firearms or carving runes into his armour to replicate the shield he had made for his helmet. All three fronts had been an uphill struggle so far and his only saving grace had been the cooking. While he had a slightly better physique than when he had started (his magic wasn't being used for anything else so it was spent solely to help restore his muscles to their former state), two weeks of hard training wasn't enough to give him a six-pack. Or even any defining musculature.

The lessons on weapons were also a work in-progress as his knowledge of them could be summed up in three words: Point and shoot. Hedwig had thought it was woefully inadequate and had accessed the knowledge she had acquired during her time with the army. It had done a lot of good, because now he could actually reload a rifle in less than ten seconds without dropping the clip.

The armour was the hardest project of them all since he needed to keep it a secret from the AI he was sharing the apartment with. He had to hide in the bathroom or the bedroom in order to work on the shield array and most of the time it took hours to get a single piece of armour done. With an entire body's worth of armour, it was taking its toll on Harry's patience. Thankfully the number of accidents had been kept low as he had learnt his lesson from the helmet-incident. The only major accident was when he had been enchanting the chest plate of the armour and he had mistakenly written the wrong rune. The chest plate had flown into the wall and the sound had alerted the AI in the next room. He had managed to convince her it might have been the covenant nearby, but he had made certain to triple-check any arrays before activating them.

So when the food was starting to run out and he had already scavenged what he could from the rest of the building's apartments, he was really desperate for a break in his hardships. While the novelty of eating new things he had never seen before in his life, it did get old when the bread became stale and dry and the fresh ingredients were approaching their expiration dates. He had made certain to avoid the food which had not survived the three month lack of resupply, though the solar panels all the buildings had ensured the fridge had kept cool.

"Why don't you go downstairs and get some more then?" The AI said, her mind elsewhere.

"There isn't any food left in the building. I've already taken everything I can take." He wasn't touching the mouldy stuff he had found two stairs down; he'd need a hospital if he even got near what might have been edible substances at one point. After the weeks of waiting it resembled an Eldritch abomination more than anything else. If the mould had flowers blooming from it, the best thing to do was to simply burn it to the ground.

"That's a… shame. Hmmm…" The AI said with obvious disinterest. The woman in the screen had not even looked at him, instead focusing on her own project. She was reading something and it was apparently more important than the lack of food her companion was experiencing

"What are you reading over there that's so important then?" He could deal with the food-situation later, now he was curious about what she was doing. Maybe it could help his rumbling stomach.

"I'm trying to understand the messages the covenant is sending to each other. My database does not have a complete understanding of their language, but I was able to pick up a little when the military was housed in my hospital. It's still quite hard to grasp what they're saying though, their encryptions are making it really difficult to learn anything." She said with eagerness. To know what the enemy was thinking was quite the valuable thing to do. If they could create a plan using the weak spots in their strategies they could get away with leaving a trace.

"So what are they saying?"

"From what I can tell, and I'm not very good at translation, they're trying to find something on the planet which is sending out a signal. It's how they were able to find the planet and attack it while catching the MACs off-guard. But it's being hidden from them and their scanners can't find them because of the damage sustained from the MAC-rounds. Since they can't utilize Slipspace or scan the surface, they have to send infantry down to the planet to help the search until a fleet can be sent to aid them." She said, her holographical lips moving in accordance with her words. It was hypnotic, watching the very much alive AI speak and to hear the sound come from the loudspeakers.

"Do you have any idea on what they're looking for?" He'd rather know what it is they're looking for and avoid it than to ignore it and accidentally walk into it when they find it.

"No, their encryptions and the language barrier are too much for my hacker routines to break through. If we want to decipher their language and decode their encryptions, I would need to tap into one of their databases. I might be an incredibly talented and awe-inspiring Smart AI, but I'm not arrogant. They only have computers containing such information in their war engines and starships and I don't fancy our chances on taking over one of those things. You might be able to take out a grunt on a ghost if we're lucky, but if we try and take out a scarab and we'll end up as a plasma-roasted stain on the ground, if we're lucky that is. Some of the covenant-races look carnivorous and I really don't want to see the inside of a jackal's digestive track." The woman in the screen shuddered at the thought and Harry had to admit, he didn't think his chances were any good in an open fight either.

"Anyway, before we can do anything else, we need to find more people or get into Alpha base. What are your suggestions?" In his opinion, getting into Alpha base seemed much easier than looking for possible crewmembers. The city seemed dead, literally and figuratively. He had seen more bodies in two weeks than he had during the entire war with Voldemort. If he didn't have Hedwig to talk to, he feared he might have gone insane from the sheer number of them. Being stranded on a planet covered with corpses was not how he had planned his life.

"I would prefer if we found any survivors before we engage the covenant, but the chances of anyone being alive at this point rate in the single number-percentage now. Even if we find any survivors, they would probably be useless in the face of the covenant. All the marines worth a damn are either dead or were evacuated. Anyone you find would be a civilian with zero experience in armed combat. You'd be safer trying to get into the base alone, even if you don't have any combat experience other than the tussle in the alley." The AI spoke. She had her hand under her chin while pondering the possibilities, emphasizing the humanity of the digital creation's appearance. If it weren't for those small details, the tiny odd actions the woman sometimes made, he would just have thought her to be a simple animation with a pre-recorded voice. The sentience she showed could have simply been the eye for details the programmer could have had, but the energy she displayed was too much for any human being to create. Humanity such as hers could only belong to a living organism, a fact Harry had trouble coming to terms with. He had seen movies about AI, but none of them had ever shown such fire or will as the woman in front of him. The minds of his age had begun making theories on how to create an AI, but hearing someone present a theory was different from actual interacting with the real deal.

"Let's clarify something, shall we?" he asked. The puzzled expression the AI sent him made him continue. "We've been here for two weeks already, but the plan has not gone forward at all during all that time. I don't' like simply going along as we go, not when we actually have time to make a plan. I'd like a concrete plan before we do anything else." Rushing in without a plan had almost gotten him killed more times than he would have liked as a child, a testament to his Gryffindor courage (though some would say foolishness). As he grew older, he did learn the importance of planning ahead, but no plan ever survived first contact as proven by the time he broke into Gringotts and the ministry. The fact that the plan had worked though had made him certain that having a plan was better than no plan at all.

"I thought I explained it already." The frown on her face almost made him sigh.

"No, you told me what we need to do, not what we are going to do or how we're going to do it. I'm not going into a base filled with enemies without any idea on how we're going to succeed." He was not going to rush into an enemy's stronghold with a snowball's chance in hell to survive. Actually it depended on what his mood was. If he felt like it, he could very well rush into an enemy's stronghold if the reward was worth it. The death of the current dark lord was usually worth it.

"I see, it makes sense you would think that, considering you don't have access to the network like I do." The AI waved her hand and several blueprints showed up on the monitor. "I had to use a majority of the access codes I overheard while in the hospital, but I finally managed to get my hands on the Alpha base's blueprints and security cameras. The base is made up of two sections; Alpha and Omega. Alpha is the surface base and is the visible one made for the public. It contains the navy personnel, the communications centre, the admiral board and all that. It's basically everything you'd expect to find on a military base. Once I get in there, I can tap into their servers and check the files concerning starships." The blueprints and pictures showed a large collection of buildings, divided into compounds and surrounded by barbed fences. It carried the look of a classic military HQ, complete with the machine guns mounted on the towers.

"The Omega base, on the other hand, is the hidden base. If we don't find anything in Alpha base, we can check this one instead. It's not visible from the air since it's built underground. Beneath the communications tower runs a two kilometres long tunnel straight down. After the tunnel ends, another tunnel begins and heads three-hundred kilometres west, out from the city and into the wild." The monitor changed views and showed a clip of something traveling into the earth and to the side. It looked like anything one would see in a movie where the main character was watching animated blueprints. "While the train leading to Omega base might be out of commission, the base has vehicles so you can drive to the base instead. Once there, the security systems will likely be offline. The base receives energy from the plant above it, but it was one of the first targets to be destroyed by the covenant. Both Alpha and Omega require immense amounts of energy to function, Omega more so than Alpha, and the two weeks which have gone by will have almost certainly drained the emergency reserves both bases possess. Only the most vital of systems will have enough energy to function." If the base above, which was larger than any base he had ever seen, was considered to be big, this base was colossal. Simply by looking at the blueprints, he could tell the underground construction was as large as a city compared to Alpha base which was not larger than a few blocks at most.

How had the government managed to afford building it? Merely digging the cavern would have bankrupted an small nation from his time, constructing a city afterwards would have ruined a super power. The financial strain it would put on a planet with a few million inhabitants should made the citizens break out in riots. What kind of clever bookkeeping had the accountants been doing to supress the public outcry which would have been sure to follow once the massive chunk of the planet's economy had seemingly vanished? It must have been something akin to magic if the fact that it had been running at the time of the invasion.

"How had the government been able to afford this? And keep it a secret at the same time?" He vocalized his thoughts, eager for any kind of explanation. Hedwig looked at him, hesitating as she began to speak. It was as if she was ashamed or embarrassed to speak of it.

"Aside from the fact that the public didn't really have much to say about politics in the first place? The tax system was very clever in extorting money from the people who paid taxes. Every single credit was taxed and the politicians made backdoor deals like they were drug dealers. Larger companies were supposed to set aside a large part of their earnings, and their employees' pay checks, in exchange for favours and illegal benefits. Those who couldn't pay taxes and were a liability to the system disappeared and some dying CEO would suddenly find an organ donor. The entire echelon of the government and the market was so filled with corruption, it was a miracle they survived this far. A single mistake in the accounting and the entire jig was up. I would almost admire their ingenuity if it weren't for the fact that they were bleeding the population dry." The AI frowned at the officials' way of treating the populace. Harry understood her frustration, the fact that they would treat their own people like that, to withhold someone's own reward just so you could have it instead.

It reminded him of Dumbledore.

"You seem rather knowledgeable about the subject." He pointed out.

"It's all in their files. Accounting and finances to be precise, can't write a report without letting the reader know where the money came from, I suppose. If you only knew what the eggheads and pencil pushers write when they think nobody is going to read there reports. One of them even wrote about how stupid is boss is in every report he wrote and he was never fired. Because no one read the reports! I'm amazed how Omega was able to survive for twenty years."

"And what would we be able to find in there?" he asked her. If they had spent the populace's money to build it then it should hold some rather fancy trinkets. Trinkets which could help them escape…

"Hell if I know. Information about Omega is more guarded than anything I ever found hacking into the army files in the hospital. They were making something in there, something they didn't want anyone to find out, not even the UNSC if they didn't include it in the ONI reports. Probably something illegal if they didn't want the UNSC to have a chance to stop it." She shrugged, her shoulders rising in response.

"So exactly what do we know about it?"

"We know the architect who designed it was overcompensating for something, and I hope he succeeded because nothing will ever top what he did with Omega. It's huge and when I say huge, I mean HUGE. The main hall is a kilometre in radius, with several other halls and districts reaching out for another three kilometres. With sixteen square kilometres, the entire base needs more electricity than the city we're currently in. We know everything about it has been covered in black ink and the people who worked on it were forbidden to leave except under certain circumstances and under surveillance. We also know it's our only hope if the Alpha base doesn't contain intel about any possible escape routes. Lastly, they're building something inside it which could be good or bad for us." Short and straight to the point, she could be serious when she needed to be. Unfortunately, the only times she has ever been serious with him was when she was lecturing him, something which was occurring far too often for his liking.

"Okay, so Omega is a complete unknown, but what about Alpha?" he asked. If they couldn't know about Omega then they should focus their attention on Alpha.

"It's smaller than Omega and it has already been overrun by the covenant. Whatever equipment it possessed didn't help the army once the phantoms began to drop troops inside the fences. The good thing is that there are hardly any troops left inside it. The covenant were using it as a temporary base to drop infantry, but when they expanded into the city, they left the base in favour of catching the AI:s the army was carrying since they would need one to access the servers before the year was over. Only a small force of grunts and jackals remain under the command of a single elite inside the base, but other than that there are no covenant fast enough to reach the base in time to stop us from gathering the info we need." The pictures she showed him depicted a group of weird-looking aliens, some incredibly short with large packs on their backs while the other kind was slightly taller holding some kind of shield made of light in their hands. The only elite present was wearing blue armour and wielding some kind of weapon, one which looked like a blue crab claw.

"I think the covenant stationed in Alpha base are only there to break into the servers since the elite is a Minor and the grunts under his command are likewise inexperienced. The base was already conquered and the humans killed so there wouldn't be any point keeping Majors and Ultras back to guard an empty compound. Not that I'm complaining, but I feel a little insulted by their lack of security." Hedwig said, the frown on her face agreeing with her words.

"I don't mind if they abandon it altogether so I'm not going to say anything, but how do we know the base will contain the information we need? If the covenant want the information so much, isn't there a chance the army will have blown it all up? Or at least erased it all?" It was a question he should have asked before, but he had never thought about it. If the enemy wanted information, then the logical response would be to erase all traces of the information they sought.

"I thought about it as well, but you're overestimating the local army and navy. Alpha may have been the Military capital of Roost, with their entrance to Omega and all that, but they didn't expect to be found by the covenant. Alpha base was meant to control and guide the soldiers already on the field so the technology kept inside the base was incredibly important to the machinery of the Navy and the Army. They didn't expect the covenant to bypass the MAC-guns completely and insert themselves directly into the base. Whatever security measures and backup plans the Admiralty Board had, the speed of the attack was simply too much for them. Had they actually wiped the servers clean, I would not be able to access the surface databases from the local network. Granted, I should not be able to access the servers from the local network at all, so something went wrong during the attack and the defence mechanisms went offline." She explained, her expression showing extreme self-satisfaction about her ability to find information which should have been classified. Even Harry, someone who originally lived five-hundred years in the past, thought it was weird.

"So how do we get into Alpha? I take it the front gate is out of the question." The image displaying the front gate showed two large plasma turrets on top of the wall with a grunt operating on each.

"You'd be right about that. Aside from the fact that the front gate is the most guarded one, it's ridiculously open and lacking any kind of cover from the turrets. While the design made it superb when the Army was guarding it, it's nothing but a hindrance now that the covenant has control of it." Several pictures cycled in the screen until it stopped at one in particular. It showed a door leading to one of the towers, out of sight from the grunts guarding the wall. "This is one of the doors I was able to gain access to after hours of hacking into their security grid. It leads into the compound adjacent to the servers. The only problem with getting in is the location of the door. We're near the western entrance and it's on the eastern wall. We'll have to circle around it before we can get in." she said. It could be a problem, getting around it could take a few minutes considering the size of the base, but as long as he kept to the shadows he could do it.

"And then? Once we get inside, what should we do?"

"We move into the barracks and find anything useful to us. Once the grunts finish their patrol, we'll move into the control center and upload me into the database. It'll take a few minutes before I can find anything so you'll have to guard me while I do it. If the covenant senses the intrusion, they'll try to capture me for my information. I'd rather not be stuck with them, not when you think about what they tend to do with AIs such as me." Hedwig finished, the small digital woman shivering as she spoke.

"Agreed, I'd rather survive this ordeal without losing any of my body parts to carnivorous aliens." He said in response. His stomach chose to rumble the exact moment he said that, reminding him of the reason he talked to her in the first place.

"Speaking of eating, do you think you can find a grocery store nearby? The entire building has been cleaned out and we're down to our last crackers." He had never been a big fan of crackers, not since his staple diet during his first eleven years of living had been made up almost solely of the stuff. Petunia only bought the stuff to give Dudley as a snack, but the fat brat threw them in the trash, thus giving Harry a chance to survive without having to steal from the fridge. Had he gone to the fridge and started stealing food then the beatings from Vernon would be deadly. As a result, even though they had saved his life, he didn't really like crackers at all.

The green digital woman pulled up a map showing the area they were currently in, a green dot showing his current position and a blue showing some kind of store. The text under the blue dot read `Monty's Swift-E-Mart´ and the picture showed a small convenience store of no special design. The store was located at the bottom of a larger building and had large windows to display the various goods the store had to offer.

"This is the closest one I could find. It's a relatively new chain of convenience stores local to Roost and has over twelve shops in the capital alone. Not bad for a chain barely two years old, wouldn't you say? It should have enough food to last you a year, but I sincerely hope we don't have to stay a whole year for you to gain some decent muscles. Not counting the patrols catching us, the chances of the covenant simply glassing the planet rises with every day." She warned him with a sense of urgency in her voice. He understood her fear though, he too felt a sense of dread with each passing day he spent on the planet. He had seen pictures of the planets the covenant had glassed in the past and it was an ominous sight. What had formerly been a place of life and prosperity had been tuned into a never ending desert of glass, unfit for any kind of life. It was the reason he never complained about the workouts he had been going through. Having a little pain in his arms and legs is better than being blasted into atoms by superheated plasma.

"It'll do, I can't imagine my body taking an entire year to get back into shape. Unless you did something to me while I was asleep?" He joked, his lips curling up into a smile.

"I might have done some excessive tinkering with your reproduction mechanisms…" Hedwig's guilty look was enough to make him falter, but once he saw her own grin appear his worries were removed.

"Well, if that is all I have no reason to worry then. I'd like to think my manhood is resilient enough to overcome something like a little tinkering." He responded.

"If that's what you think then be my guest. Don't come crying to me when your voice has risen by several pitches and your chest is a little more developed than your exercises should have made them…" The odd lack of laughter made him suspicious once more.

"You didn't make me go through… that kind of surgery, did you?" Instead of answering, Hedwig deactivated the screen and disappeared.

"Hedwig? Answer me, damnit! I take back what I said about green women, alright? Just tell me I'm not going to wake up with boobs!"

**UNSC Marauder**

"Oh come on, it was funny! Stop acting like a… a grudge holder!" Hedwig said in his helmet. The green woman had appeared just moments before he had chucked her screen out the window and told him about the joke. He had been less than amused and had been contemplating throwing her out just for revenge.

"Is that the best you can do? Come on, with your massive data storage, you should know twenty synonyms for every word. Is grudge holder really the best alternative you could come up with?" They were not in the apartment anymore, but on the streets of Roost's capital. Like weeks earlier, the streets were filled with the decaying bodies of the former inhabitants. Vulture-like animals were feeding on the carcasses and he could see small rodents, or at least what looked like rodents, cover an entire body as they tore it to tiny digestible pieces. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have batted an eye at the death surrounding him, but the sheer amount of gore the rat-looking creature spread made even him cringe as he saw what had been a dead body just minutes earlier turn into a chewed up skeleton like it was nothing before moving onto the next dead body.

"It made you talk to me, didn't it? Besides, you deserved that after what you said about me earlier." His comment about green women not stopping by a red light had apparently struck a bit close to home. Considering she had been playing a videogame and had not stopped even once when he had said it made him feel he was justified, but she didn't like to admit things it seemed.

He was walking down the back alleys just like before, not willing to take a chance to walk on the main road. The patrols had gone down significantly the last couple of days after the covenant had broadened their search for whatever had brought them here and had left the capital with too few forces to conduct proper patrols, but he wasn't going to take the chance. Knowing his luck he was going to stumble across the only patrol if he took the main road.

"Whatever, let's just get going. Keep an eye out for strange movements, I don't want to be ambushed by an elite again." His armour had undergone plenty of carving, but he wouldn't be able to tell just how effective the shields would be against the sword the elite had been using. Hedwig had explained how the sword had worked, or at least what she knew about it, but he didn't understand any of the theories surrounding the blade. Even after he had gone to a muggle school after Hogwarts, he still didn't understand advanced physics. He knew enough to get by in the twenty-first century, but even the coffee machines were too advanced for him in the year of 2550.

"Nothing's showing on the CCTV-feed. Either the elites are competing in who can stand still the longest or we're clear. My bet is on option 2." The AI he was sharing a helmet with said.

Walking with a fast pace, he stopped at every corner he saw. The MA37 in his hands felt heavy, but not as heavy it had been when he had first gotten it. All those hours he had spent learning how to aim and reload were finally paying off as he could finally hold the rifle without feeling like it was a large log. No matter what anyone told him, holding a real rifle was nothing like what it looked like in a videogame. No even the futuristic ones he had tried with Hedwig could replicate the feeling of aiming a rifle.

After walking for about ten minutes, he saw the store. The name of the store stood proudly over the door and he heard the jingle of the bell as he opened it. Startled, he reached out to stop the sound by holding the old-fashioned bell in his hands until the sound died down. Once the sound disappeared, he turned around to look at the various items the store had for sale/looting. His stomach rumbled once more as he saw the food which had survived the weeks with little harm. Dry goods which had not needed to be cooled down and the frozen items like meat had been able to endure the long time without being exchanged for newer samples.

He could eat meat again! Chicken, beef, pork and fish were like heaven after days of crackers and water and his gut replied in agreement. Walking over to the freezer, he took out his backpack and started filling it with the frozen food. He didn't bother with reading what kind of food it was, as long as it was meat he would eat it with joy. He could cook so many things with this: Bolognese, curry, karage, paella and…

Clink!*

The sound of metal hitting tiles brought him out of his celebration and his MA37 was in his hands with a speed he didn't think he was capable of using. The backpack fell to the ground with a thud and the frozen goods in it made the impact extra heavy. What kind of store used tiles for the floor anyway? They were needlessly loud and fragile and quite ugly if a frozen chicken could break them.

He wasn't going to complain though, it wasn't as if anyone was going to sue him for breaking the floor. The owner of the store was probably dead, if the covenant saw him he would be dead and he doubted a convenience store owner would be able to get a ticket on the evacuations ships.

"Where did the sound come from?" he asked the woman in the helmet.

"From the office, I think. Keep your guard up, I didn't see any signs of the doors breaking so I doubt it's an elite, but jackals and grunts are still dangerous in groups. It's better to shoot first and ask questions later." She advised him, her digital voice betraying a slight tone of fear.

Walking over to a store office with a gun in your hands feels incredibly awkward, especially if you're in it trying to loot food. It makes you feel as if you're a criminal robbing the place, a distinctly uncomfortable feeling. If you are in fact trying to rob the store then you should be uncomfortable, but in Harry's case it only made him feel as if people are going to jump out of the door and yell `Surprise´ and then telling him the entire war with the covenant and the dead bodies was one big prank. He should know, his father was the king of pranksters.

The door had been broken down with tools rather than brute force. The metal latch had been forced open from the side instead of simply kicking the door down. That meant whoever broke the door was rather weak compared to the average elite. That was good, it meant his chance of overpowering the opponent was abysmal rather than non-existent. But it didn't show any signs plasma damage or anything like that. Whatever had broken the lock had used technique to break it rather than brawn.

His heart was pounding in his chest and his throat was dry, like he hadn't drunk in years. Each step he took, the closer he was to confronting the enemy behind the door. What would he meet once he opened the door? A jackal? A grunt? Maybe an elite who didn't like to break things unnecessarily? Soon he would know, but he was dreading the meeting with each moment.

How was he supposed to kill them again? If it was an elite then he was supposed to use the M6, but not if it was a grunt or a jackal. Then he was supposed to use the rifle. What if it was a hunter? He didn't have anything that could kill a hunter and in an enclosed space like this he would be toast. No, a hunter wouldn't be able to get into the store without breaking everything in sight. They were too large, too clumsy to get into the front door. It had to be smaller, more nimble.

He pushed the door open and for a moment he considered just squeezing the trigger and spraying the insides of the office with bullets. Everything would die then and he wouldn't have to worry about whatever kind of alien was behind the door, but there was no guarantee it would be killed by the single clip in his rifle. If it was an elite then its shields would be able to withstand his assault unless all of his bullets struck the shields, something he doubted unless he had the opportunity to aim. He might even miss the first shots if it's a grunt considering their low heights.

He needed to open the door and have a look at what he was shooting if he wanted to have a chance to kill the thing inside the room. He didn't need fear taking over his thoughts, he needed to be calm. He had to think back at the times he was fighting Voldemort, when he could calm down after being hunted by death eaters every day. Remember the feeling, remember how to control the fear.

It didn't go away immediately, but it helped. His heart, which had until now been beating like a drum in his throat, slowed down until it was barely above average. He could take a breath and his lungs wouldn't expel the air he had inhaled immediately afterwards. He pushed the door open and flicked on the flashlight on the MA37. The office was dark, partially because the lightbulbs had burnt out, but it could also be because someone had turned them off to ambush him. Flicking the light switch told him the lights were out completely. Great, just what he needed, darkness when he was trying to calm down.

Aiming the rifle around to illuminate the room, he saw the clutter of objects the office had contained. The newspaper clippings depicting the owner in front of the store holding a banner with some kind of prize in his hands was shown several times, each time from a different newspaper. So the store successful, huh? Interesting, it didn't look all that popular, but who was he to say what was good and what was not? He still thought cell phones were innovative.

Something moved in the corner and he almost pulled the trigger. Something had moved behind the desk, something small, smaller than a jackal. A grunt perhaps? It suited the size of what he had seen, but the form was different. It looked like a… he lowered his rifle and deactivated the tint of his helmet.

"You can come out now, I'm not going to hurt you." He said to the figure under the desk.

"What are you doing? Don't lower your guard, they'll kill you!" Hedwig hissed in his ears, the helmet focusing the rods into his ears. He cringed at her tone, but he didn't aim his rifle again.

"It's alright, you're not an alien, right?" He said once more, his voice slightly modified by the helmet's filter. The AI in his helmet tried to object, but he didn't listen. Instead he switched the soundless effect on.

After a while, the figure moved again, slowly out of its cover. Hedwig was furious and was desperately beckoning him to aim his gun at the object, but she too stopped moving when she saw what it was.

Dirty, blond hair fell over a face covered in dirt and grime. Green eyes filled with fear looked at him like he was a monster while the owner of said eyes held a knife no larger than a pencil aimed at him. Her clothes were covered in dirt and the dress she wore looked it hadn't been washed in months.

"You think a little girl is going to kill me? Really?" He asked the AI in his head. Hedwig looked flustered as she realized the speech-function had been restored.

"Well, I might have overreacted a little out of fear. I wasn't looking forward to the possibility of you dying." She held her hands and was clinching them together in what was clearly a sign of nervousness. Had she really been that terrified by the prospect of him dying? Or had she only been afraid of being captured by the covenant? Either way, it didn't matter. He wasn't supposed to grow to close to her, not after what happened last time he trusted anybody.

While their little conversation had gone on, the girl by the desk had dropped her knife and was looking at him with teary eyes. When he focused on her again, the small girl let out a sob which was followed by a series of sniffles. Within seconds the blonde child had fallen to the ground and was crying her heart out, using her sleeves to dry her eyes from the tears. A gross mixture of snot and tears formed on her clothes as she continued to weep from whatever had happened to her.

While Harry had become accustomed to the sight of crying children, he had never mastered the art of comforting them. Children were too illogical for him, too emotional. He had not cried as a child, he had learnt early on that crying would lead to more beatings and that was a good motivation not to weep at every chance he got. How was he, a person who had spent most of his life bottling his emotions up and only let them out while fighting, supposed to console a child barely ten years old? He didn't have a manual for dealing with children available and he sure as hell didn't have children of his own to take experience from.

"Shit." He said simply.

"Aren't you supposed to, you know, make her calm down?" Hedwig asked, her moment of weakness forgotten and her wit coming back with a vengeance. She had apparently not liked that he muted her.

"How the fuck am I supposed to calm her down? I don't know how to handle children in general, let alone a crying one during an apocalypse!" He responded. Give him a death eater and he could deal with it in a heartbeat, but crying children were different. He wasn't sure he was capable of blowing them to pieces the same way and he wasn't really in the mood for trying it out.

"Whatever it is you're supposed to do I suggest you do it fast, her crying may attract enemies. Just because I have eyes on the street does not mean I know where all the aliens are. There might be covenant inside the buildings." The AI in his helmet advised him. The small screen in his visor showed the area outside the store and as luck would have it, no aliens were outside it. Hedwig was right though, he needed to stop her crying.

"Uh, so… Want to buy some ice cream?"

The look Hedwig sent him made him feel awful, but at least the girl stopped crying.

**UNSC**

"They have chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and banana, which one do you want?" He asked the girl. After he had explained what he was doing inside the store she had stopped crying, but she had still insisted on getting the ice cream she had been promised. Hedwig had not stopped glaring at him since, even going so far as to call him a danger to children, but he could tolerate her reaction. He would rather to be called a paedophile than to fight a group of elites inside a cramped space like a convenience store. Although that did not mean he liked the way she was accusing him, but he would deal with that later.

"…Chocolate." Was the quick and short answer the girl gave him. So far she had only said three words to him; "Ice cream", "Okay" and "Chocolate". He would have counted "No" as a word, but she hadn't really said it, instead she had just shaken her head to convey the meaning of the word. He would have snapped had she been a normal person, but the circumstances did give the child some leeway with her behaviour.

How had she survived for so long? The invasion had begun a month before he woke up three weeks ago. That meant she had survived in a warzone for almost two months. She couldn't have done it alone, she would have been killed by the covenant or the looters who had also survived. She must have been with an adult until now, but where were they now? Had the adult been killed and left the girl all alone? Perhaps…

"Where are your parents?" He asked, careful to time his questions until after the girl had finished her first Popsicle. It was amazing what a frozen piece of dairy could do, what had been a sobbing wreck just moments earlier had been transformed into a face willed with sunshine and rainbows. He was pretty sure he could see stars in her eyes, but he was convinced he had imagined it.

As soon as he asked the question however the girl froze and her back became as stiff as a board. Her smile disappeared and, for a second time in twenty minutes, her lip started to tremble as she began to cry once more. Realizing his error, Harry started to apologize.

"It's alright, you don't have to say anything. I know what it's like, I've lost my parents too." He frantically tried to calm the girl down. It's seemed to have worked as the girl looked up at him abd sniffed.

"Your parents are dead?" she asked him.

Wow, a whole sentence? Maybe he should have pulled the dead parents-card earlier? If it worked this much on a (probably) traumatized child then he couldn't imagine how it would work on women at the pub. Not that he went to the pub very often, having enemies wherever he looked meant he couldn't get drunk anywhere he didn't feel safe. As a result he had never had a drink outside his own apartment. Maybe that would be different in this time…

"Yeah, so you don't have to say anything. I know how you feel." He said reassuringly. If he made a mistake here than she would start to cry again and he doubted he would be enough for the elites to miss the whining of a child twice.

It worked it seemed as the girl sat back down on the bench they had occupied. Reaching for the bag of popsicles, she started eating yet another chocolate flavoured stick of ice cream. Removing his own helmet, he decided to eat one as well. Putting the metal helmet on the bench while taking a bite from the chocolate-dairy product, he was surprised by the flavour. It had been such a long time since he had eaten chocolate in any form. The sweet cocoa was overwhelming his taste buds and it took all of his willpower not to wolf down the entire Popsicle and move onto the remaining bag. His delight must have shown on his face because the girl next to him had stopped eating her own ice cream and was staring at him amazed. Coughing awkwardly, he tried to play it off.

"It's been a while since I last ate ice cream so I was kind of surprised at the taste of it. What about you?" He tried to shift the attention away from his own enthusiasm, partially out of embarrassment and partially out of curiosity. He wanted to know how the girl had survived so far and if there were other survivors.

"I… My mom would buy me ice cream when dad would come home, to celebrate. We were going out for ice cream when… _They_ came. Mom died and now my dad is going to die too…" Sobs were heard as the child began to cry again. Luckily it was not the desperate bawling like it had been just moments earlier, but a quiet weeping. Not that he was allergic to children crying, he just didn't want to be found by the covenant. As long as she didn't attract unwanted attention then it was fine for the kid to cry as much as she wanted. Let her grieve, she needed it apparently…

Wait, her dad is _going_ to die?

"Is your dad still alive?" He asked her. If he could find another survivor then they could… They could… They could do something! Having two survivors was better than being alone. Even if one was injured and the other q little girl, it was better than spending each day being the only one trying to learn how to operate a starship. With another person to share the responsibility the chances of survival increases exponentially.

The girl wiped her nose with her sleeve, something she seemed to be doing a lot if the barks on her sleeves were any indication. She really needed to wash her clothes soon, she was going to be sick if she continued to wear those dirty rags like those. "Yeah, but he was shot and I can't do anything. I thought this place would have bandages and stuff, but I can't find any!"

No surprise there, you won't find emergency kits inside a convenience store. Better to look inside a pharmacy or a hospital, but the girl was probably desperate and didn't know where else to go. Finding a store was most likely her only hope and once she didn't find any here she fell into despair. She was in luck though, Harry had learnt how to treat wounds in auror training.

"Can you tell me where your father is? I might not look like it, but I know a little about treating wounds. I might be able to save your dad." He knew a little about treating wounds? Hah! He could probably heal anything less than life threatening if he had his wand, but without it he would need to improvise. He could try to cast a wandless spell, but healing magic was delicate and his control with wandless magic was shit. Still, if he kept the magic to a minimum and took it slow then he could heal the wounds with little problems.

The girl looked at him like he was a knight in shining armour, sent by the heavens to save the day. Having gone from the pit of despair to hopeful again, she nodded in excitement. Grabbing his hands and jumping of the bench, she pulled him out of the store as fast as she could.

"Hold on, I need to get a few things first." He stopped her in her tracks. Going back, he picked up his rifle and out on his helmet. The girl in his helmet appeared in the screen once more as Hedwig decided to speak to him.

"So you're going to save the girl's father, huh? Do you even know anything about medicine and healing?" She asked him with that superior tone she always used when she knew his didn't know as much as her.

"I know enough to treat a gun wound, I think. It's one of the things I remember for some reason, though I could use your help. The knowledge of a hospital AI would be very helpful." He really needed to come up with an excuse someday. Until now he had used selective memory as an excuse, but she wasn't going to accept that as an answer forever. He needed a real explanation which didn't sound like complete bullshit when she heard it. Ironically, his real reason did sound like complete bullshit when he thought about it.

"Very well, I guess I will go ahead with this plan of yours. If we're lucky we might find another crewmember today." She said with joy. It looked like she was looking forward to the opportunity of practicing medicine once more.

"Good for you, can you check if the street is clear. Wouldn't want the paedophile to get ambushed by elites, would we?" he said sarcastically. He could hold grudges just as much as she could.

"You remember that, did you? How was I supposed to know you weren't an unstable pervert? You barely tell me anything!" The digital women in the screen scratched the back of her head rather sheepishly. Had she really expected him to forget it?

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response, but I'll have you know I prefer my women to be above eighteen." Considering he was older than five-hundred years it actually meant he was a p… No, he was like Malfoy, he did not like children in that way.

He really needed to take a time-out to get settled. The whole time travel-issue had really screwed with his head, if he kept going at the pace he was at right now he might lose it before he got off the planet. If he started drawing parallels between Malfoy and himself then he knew something was wrong. Something had definitely gone horribly wrong in his mental faculties. Focusing his attention back to the present, he looked down at the child waiting impatiently by the door.

"First of all before we go anywhere, I need to know your name. Out with it." He said as he activated the visor and his face as hidden by the emerald green polarization.

"Rose." She said shortly.

"Your full name, please. I like to know who my companions are and I don't trust people I don't know." He said curtly. He needed to focus now, to get his head in the game. The first conversation with a real human he had in weeks had been too much for him and he was relaxed now, too relaxed. He was about to go out into a warzone and he needed to be sharp. He couldn't afford mistakes, not when his life and the life of a child were at stake.

"Rose Decourt." She answered rather stubbornly. The girl, Rose, didn't like doing what she was told. That was going to be rather troublesome, especially if he had to listen to her complaints later one. Maybe he should try to find a other girl her age who can keep her occupied?

Where the hell was he supposed to find another girl around ten years old in the middle of an alien invasion?

** UNSC**

Was this where they had been hiding all this time? A dump?

It was literally a dump. Before the invasion it had apparently been the capital's junkyard, where old cars and dishwashers alike would compete for space in a sad blend of broken dreams and failures. With the dust coming in from the lands that had already been glassed over, the entire place looked even filthier and worn down than it should have. He wouldn't be surprised to see tumbleweed rolling by, even if he was on a planet where the plant probably didn't even exist.

Why would they stay here though? Surely they could find a better place to hide, at least one that didn't smell as if it was covered in oil and old milk. The conditions didn't exactly encourage personal hygiene and even if they were under the attack of an alien race, without their health they'll die of disease, though a death from a sickness likely paled in comparison to a death by plasma bombardment. It still didn't explain why they had chosen this place to hide out of all the places in the city. Numerous buildings next to each other could have served as a hiding spot for a family of two better than a dumping ground for broken home appliances. Hell, even a large group could hide in the city without fear of detection since the buildings had been cleaned out by the elites. Even if every building only had ten apartments that still meant there were hundreds of millions of places to hide. For a city said to house more than twenty million people in the heart of it alone, it seemed to be quite a waste to leave it for a junkyard.

"Are you sure this is where your father is?" Harry asked the girl by his side. Rose had not left his side since they left the store, apparently scared at the prospect of leaving the safety of the indoors. Having an armed adult by her side had been enough to convince her to venture out once more, but she had taken a hold of his shirt and refused to let go, grasping it with a grip that would impressed even Hagrid.

She nodded and started pulling him along to the place her father was. When they had begun their little fieldtrip, Harry had started walking towards a pharmacy to get the necessary equipment. Rose had been rather reluctant o to deviate from their course, her mind not registering medicine and bandages as important compared to getting back to her father. His attempts to explain why he needed the equipment had fallen on deaf ears, the girl had only agreed once he had said he couldn't help her father without disinfectant and painkillers. She had reluctantly agreed to follow him to the abandoned pharmacy though he would have preferred to go alone since a single adult can run away faster than a child can.

His backpack was now filled with both food and emergency kits, an item he was surprised to find an abundance of. He had expected the pharmacy to have been looted and empty, but he had been wrong as the shelves were lined with different kinds of drugs and pills. The hospital had also been filled with supplies he remembered; maybe the covenant had been killing people too fast for the population to loot the stores of whatever items they had? Did it matter really? All he needed to do was to find the father of the girl and help as best as he could. He could deal with the fallout afterwards, but he doubted anyone would crucify him for robbing a drugstore in the middle of an alien invasion. There would be more immediate concerns to address first, like how they were going to get off the planet, for instance.

"He's in the shed by the forest. Everyone is keeping an eye out for aliens so we'll be fine." Rose said happily.

Everyone?

"Wait Rose, hold on. How many people are there in your group?" He asked her. She had not mentioned anything about a group, it had simply been her father and her. Now there were more people alive? That was perfect, his chances of getting off the planet had just improved significantly.

"Uh, maybe ten?" She replied, unsure of her own answer. He didn't know if she was asking him if it was the right number or if she was simply saying a random number. It did however increase his chances of survival. Ten people alone might not be enough to man an entire starship, but it might be enough if an AI joins the crew. If he could convince the group to join him then all he needed was to find a starship, something he was not sure how to accomplish, but at least half of the problem had been solved.

Walking across the junkyard, he was amazed by how disorganized the future junkyards were. He had expected it to be a little more high-tech, but it looked exactly how they were back in his time. He was actually a little disappointed in how primitive everything looked compared to his expectations. He thought they would be flying around in hover cars and wear futuristic clothing, but everything looked like someone had streamlined the designs from his timeline and then thought it was good and left it as it was. Perhaps it was better for him as it would be less of a shock, but he couldn't help but to feel a little disappointed. Five-hundred years and the AI in his helmet was the most advanced thing he had seen in two weeks.

Pile after pile of cars, washing machines and refrigerators appeared as he walked around in the final stop of a machine's life. He was actually wondering how large the dump was if the colony had been around for a century at most. Each time rose told him which way to go he was boggled by how accurate her sense of direction was. It had taken him weeks to learn the way to his lessons at Hogwarts and she didn't have a teacher to ask for directions. Kids grew up so fast these days …

"Halt!" He stopped and brought his rifle up to aim at the voice. The owner of the voice didn't have a friendly face, not with the scowl he was sending Harry's way. He too carried a rifle, the same model as Harry's in fact and he was aiming the barrel at Harry's direction. "Who the hell are you?" The man said, his gruff voice sounding like a mixture of gravel and rock salt had been poured down his throat. His beard was large and his stomach as wide as Cornelius fudge's had been. Harry didn't like him, not with the way he was aiming all too happily at Harry without any reason. Harry was also aiming at the fat man, but he didn't know any better. Gryffindors were supposed to be foolhardy.

The group in front of him were a ragtag bunch. The man in front was the rude speaker who had had instantly taken a disliking to, but his two companions were more interesting. One of them was a woman neither young nor old, but somewhere between twenty-five to thirty-five years old if his eyes were correct, with scarlet hair so unlike Ginny's own flaming red. She was tall, taller than he was actually. She wore a variant of the military uniform, one missing several armour plates and coloured once more in scarlet, except the colour had faded with age and the scratches on several locations told him she was an experienced soldier.

The other companion was a man, but instead a girth the size of his own height, the man was rather muscular. Almost taller than anyone he had ever seen without any magical creature inheritance, the man stood at over two meters tall, an impressive height for a human. His auburn hair clashed against his yellow painted armour, but he didn't seem bothered by its colour. The reason his appearance stood out against his own companions though was the large scar running from his forehead down across his nose and ending at the bottom of his left cheek. Either he had been in a fierce fight to get that kind of scar or he had no idea how to use a razor when shaving. Considering his lack of beard even during an alien invasion Harry was betting on the former option.

"Name's Harry Potter. Who the hell are _you?_" Harry asked in return. The fat man wanted to be rude, that was fine. Harry could also be rude.

"Doesn't matter, you're on our turf. Beat it before I empty a mag up your bunghole!" The intelligent reply shocked Harry quite a bit. He thought the man was incapable of thoughts beyond primitive grunts and gestures. He still didn't like being told what to do. He was about to respond with a snide comment when the woman behind the man saw the Rose holding his shirt.

"Rose! What are you doing over there with him? Do you have any idea how long we've been looking for you? Why would you leave the camp without telling anyone? We thought the covenant had taken you!" The scarlet haired woman said as she rushed forward to take a hold of the young girl. Rose didn't fight against the woman's actions, but she did try to shrink away from her vision. She had apparently not been allowed to leave the camp. Understandable, there wasn't a sane adult who would leave a young child alone without a guard if something was out there trying to kill every human in sight.

That sounded suspiciously similar to his time at Hogwarts. He now had another reason to hate Dumbledore. Bloody bastard, once he got to Earth he was going to find the old fart's grave and piss on it. If he couldn't kill him the desecrating the man's grave was consolation prize.

"I thought I could help daddy if I found some medicine…" Rose said, looking down in order to avoid making eye contact. Poor thing, she had snuck out without permission and was facing the consequences for it. Oh well, that was nothing, he had snuck out countless times to do stupid things and he had been reprimanded for it. Though with the way Dumbledore kept congratulating him meant he wanted Harry to die. He needed to stop thinking about the headmaster. He'd go insane before he would be able to understand the senile old man.

"That still doesn't make it right for you to worry us like that! Come on, let's get you cleaned up. You look like you went diving in a sewer." Or it might just be the fact that she has been living the last few weeks in a junkyard… is what he wanted to say, but he chose not to. He was supposed to convince these people to help him storm Alpha base. Offending them before he could befriend them was not the best way to go.

Except for the fat man, Harry didn't mind offending him. He looked like he could use the insults.

"Before we do anything; mind telling me where her father is? I'm supposed to help after he was shot or something." To be honest, Rose had not been very clear on what had happened. All she knew was her father had been injured and it looked like a bullet wound. Details like where it was or what size it was seemed to be too advanced for the mind of a child. He could work with pretty much anything, but he would have appreciated the knowledge beforehand to create some sort of plan on how to heal it. Improvising on a lethal wound was not recommended except in the most dire of situations, and while this was most certainly a dire situation, he still didn't like going in without knowing what he was in for.

"You're not going anywhere except away from here!" The fat man said, his voice still sounding like her had been puffing cigarettes since diapers and the consequences were finally coming back to bite him in the arse.

"Claus, shut up!" The woman said with exasperation. "You're not the leader of the group, Jacobs is and after him it's Stevenson. Do I have to shove my foot up your ass once more before you know your place? Because I'm ready to go right now!"

Well, the woman had fire in her, more than most too. Not many women would stand up to a man who weighs more than three time their size, but she did it with little to no fear. He'd bow in respect to her, but he was too preoccupied with trying to find a way to turn the conversation into his advantage.

"He's a stranger, Alice and I don't recognise him IFF-tag. He's wearing a Marine uniform, but I don't know any company which uses lightning bolt as an identification tag. He's obviously a fraud!" The newly identified Claus objected to Alice's comments.

Lightning bolt? How did they know he had a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt? He had been wearing his helmet the entire conversation.

"If you're wondering about my companion's IFF-tag then allow me to explain." Hedwig's voice broadcasted on the outside of the helmet, shocking the company present. The quality of the loudspeakers wasn't the best, probably the result of having the production given to the lowest bidder, but it was enough to serve Hedwig's purpose hopefully. "I am Hedwig, the Smart AI of Saint George's hospital of Medicine and Research. My current companion is one of the long-term coma patients who very recently woke up during the attack. The reason he's wearing battlegear is because it was the safest option in the current situation and I doubt the marines will be missing it since they are all dead or have left the planet by this point. His IFF-tag is a bit of an inside joke. If you can, please ignore it."

The group of three including Rose were surprised by the sudden voice emanating from the helmet which had apparently not been Harry's own voice, but quickly recovered. Alice seemed to consider the information while Claus took it a confession.

"So you admit you stole the clothes you're wearing?" He exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger in Harry's direction.

"No I don't, since I didn't steal anything. The hospital had been abandoned for quite a while before I woke up and the clothes and equipment hadn't been touched in weeks. I needed something to wear and defend myself with and nobody was going to complain if one suit was missing or if a single rifle was taken. What is the matter with you anyway? You look like I did something to you personally. What, did the suit I'm wearing used to belong to you? That can't be, the armour too tight for someone of your size to squeeze into, even with a diet." Harry said offhandedly. Why was there always someone who wanted to pick a fight with him every time he met a new group? Was there something wrong with his face? His scar might be an excuse to start fight if they mistook it as a piercing, but he was wearing a helmet now so they wouldn't know he had a scar to begin with. Maybe he just had a talent for pissing off wankers with whose IQ matched their age.

Claus didn't take his comment about his weight as an adult and tried to tackle him, using his aforementioned weight as a weapon to take down the physically weaker opponent. Or he would have if Alice hadn't shoved her boot into the man's groin. Claus collapsed on the ground, a wheeze escaping his throat as the pain travelled from the man's crown jewels and into his brain. Poor Claus, he won't be having children anytime soon. Harry was about to thank the woman when she addressed him instead.

"I know Claus can be a handful to deal with, but I would prefer it if you didn't provoke him. He might not be much, but he has a pair of hands capable of wielding a rifle and that means he's worth his weight in gold." She said, running her hand through her scarlet to remove any imperfections the sudden kick had created.

"Uh huh…" It wasn't his best response, but he had been surprised by her move just as much as Claus had been. It shouldn't have been humanly possible to move as fast as she did. Only certain wizards who had taken potions and undergone rituals had moved as fast as she had, most of them being restricted and forbidden due to the effects they had. A man capable of moving three times as fast as a human was supposed to was quite a threat and the ingredients were expensive, making it impossible to arm the auror force with the same supplies of the potions. So how had the woman been able to do it? She was a witch, he had never seen a witch or wizard use an assault rifle before, even though he was technically using one right now.

"You said you could help Dan, right? Follow me, I'll lead you to where he is." She continued at his stunned reply. She started walking, but stopped when Rose gripped her armour. The difference in size was almost comical, but the way the tall woman picked up the small girl was as if she was the mother of a newly born child. "Scratch that, Simon will show you the way, I have to give this little rogue a bath." Without a word goodbye, she left carrying the girl in his arms. He wanted to ask her to stop, to ask her how she was able to move so fast, but he found himself unable to say a word.

"It's this way, please." The tall man, Simon, said. He started walking without another word, as he made it quite clear he had taken the orders of the woman quite seriously. Harry followed him quickly, leaving Claus moaning on the ground in a sad foetal position. Harry might have pitied him, as any man would after seeing him be physically incapacitated in such a cruel manner, but he found himself secretly enjoying the way the fat man was rocking back and forth in pain. He had been an arse from the moment harry had met him so he didn't see any reason to care if he was castrated. Had he never heard of karma?

But he remembered his curiosity from earlier and inspected the man beside him. Incredibly tall and a menacing appearance, he must have had a hard time socializing as a child. Was that why he was keeping quiet and not asking Harry any questions?

"So what's with you and the woman back there?" He blurted out, immediately regretted his question. That sounded wrong, he had meant to ask him why they were so tall, but he had asked it in such a vague manner it could be misinterpreted.

Simon didn't seem to take it that way though, instead looking at him with that same blank stare. "Alice and I are Spartans, modified humans. Is that what you are asking?" The guy was blunt if anything else. Though it did not help him understand anything. Modified humans? In what way were they modified? Hedwig seemed to sense his confusion and explained in detail what the giant had neglected.

"Spartans are modified by ONI in order to combat the Covenant. They are humanity's strongest weapon against the forces the covenant possesses. It is said that a single SPARTAN is stronger than a company of marines. Be respectful, you're talking to a hero." She urged him, a warning tone in her voice.

Harry was also a war hero, but nobody seemed to respect him. In fact, he was a hero of two wars and he was the one who ended both of the as well. Where was the respect he was supposed to be given? How unfair!

"I see, so what are you doing here then? If you're a super soldier aren't' you supposed to have left with the last evacuation? I don't think the army would want to leave a Spartan behind on a planet left for dead, let alone two." The gear they were using seemed rather worn down as well. The armour the woman wore looked like it had been used nonstop for years.

"We were supposed to give the evac shuttles time to escape. Once the ships could contact the UNSC then they were supposed to send reinforcements to help the rest of the planet." Simon answered.

"And when was that?" He was most likely not going to like the answer to his question.

"…A month ago."

Harry sighed, he was used to tactics like these. Send in a sacrificial squad meant to distract or delay the enemy in order to save themselves, plenty of politicians had used aurors in such way, though none had been dumb enough to send the Boy-Who-Lived as a sacrificial pawn. None except Dumbledore of course.

"So we are abandoned, huh? I guess that was to be expected, let's go treat the patient before we do anything else. I think I'm going to have a headache if this continues." Harry said. His hopes of finding a group had been raised at the size of the group, but the fact that the planet had been seen as a lost cause was enough to make anyone depressed.

"…You and me both."

He needed a drink right now if the supersoldier ageed with him.


	3. Chapter 3

I didn't know what to do with this chapter. Everything I wrote kept flowing out and the plan I had was completely swept away. Hopefully you'll like the chapter and review what you did like about it. Otherwise I really don't have much to say about it. There might be a few spelling errors, but those are just there so you know I love you guys. You know that right?

Onto more personal news, there are currently a string of robberies in my neighborhood and today my next-door neighbor was robbed. They had been spying on the house it seemed because they knew when everyone was out of the house. The weird part of it is this: My neighbor is a police officer.

Yeah, weird huh? Anyway, everyone on the street is afraid to leave their house empty and is trying to find someone to guard the house every time they leave. I spent an entire weekend locked up in the house because I was afraid to leave it unsupervised.

So how was your weekend? Leave a review if you did read the AN!

Please enjoy!

**2015-03-04:** After receiving several complaints about Harry being too indecisive and still letting Jacobs stay in power because he doesn't want to take control, I tried to make it little more clear about why I wrote it like that. He's not letting Jacobs stay in command because he wants to, he can't just waltz in and take command just because he has magic. Too many risks and limitations are in the way for him to go all Merlin on their asses. As the writer I'm at fault for being too ambiguous so I will be making things more clear in the next chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>UNSC Marauder<strong>

Harry's assumption that the group Rose had been a part of being small was quickly proven wrong as the small shelters and sheds exceeded the expectations of his every possible imagination. Rose had said they were maybe ten survivors, but that was perhaps due to her lack of skill in basic math. Perhaps she had not been able to see the vast majority of the survivors due to being kept away from the group, as a way to keep the children happy in their ignorance. Telling a child the hopes of survival were close to nonexistent was not a good idea to keep order, at least that was what Harry thought.

As he met more and more people, he realized the group had over a hundred people in their ranks. Some were marines, but those were in the minority. About twenty of the survivors were soldiers at most, excluding the Spartans he had met earlier. The second minority in the survivors was civilians who had one way or another found a way to survive until they met up with the rest of the survivors. Most of them had been able to make themselves useful, either as engineers or as soldiers, but the last group was the most interesting one.

Insurrectionists.

Hedwig had told him about them after he met the first one. A group of people who had risen up against UNSC and their dictatorship, fighting for the common man and justice… is what they wanted you to believe, but the truth was far from flattering. UNSC were perhaps rather tyrannical in their rule, a point in the insurrectionist's favour if you asked Harry, but the insurrectionists weren't much better in that regard. Using terrorist tactics by bombing civilian buildings and taking civilians as hostages, the death toll caused by the rebels was almost entirely made up of innocent lives. A few factions of the insurrectionists engaged the UNSC directly, but most of them were no better than terrorists.

Thankfully the war between the UNSC and the insurrectionists had stopped for the most part once the covenant attacked, but there were still pockets of armed fighters left who wouldn't hesitate to blow up a UNSC ship or two. Claus had been a marine before he defected and became the leader of the insurrectionists stationed on Roost and he seemed to despise any and all who were associated with the UNSC. He had apparently picked a fight with Alice and Simon after the two groups had joined to gain leadership, but had not been in a fight against a Spartan before. After having been humiliated by the tall woman in a fight using nothing but her fists, he had reluctantly accepted the leadership of the marines.

Harry had also come to understand why the amazon woman from before had reacted so badly to the actions the former insurrectionist had taken. Claus had been in charge of guarding the base before, but had turned away civilians who had come to the junkyard to hide, all in order to secure his own survival. The base had a shortage of food and the more refugees the less for they had. Claus had literally rejected hundreds of survivors before Simon had caught him opening fire on a family of four. Ever since then even Alice who hated killing humans had wanted to execute him. The only reason he had been spared was the fact he was used to wielding a weapon and he had influence over the insurrectionists. He was however unable to exercise hos authority since even his former comrades thought he had gone too far.

Speaking of leadership, the highest commanding officer on the base, if you could call it a base at all, was Lieutenant Commander Ismael Jacobs. When Alice had beaten down the insurrectionist's leader, Jacobs had automatically assumed command of the operation. While Harry had not met him, he got the impression that he was not used to commanding large groups, odd for such a highly ranked officer. So far he had let Alice and Simon deal with leading the group while he secluded himself in the HQ of the junkyard. Simon had told him the Commander was quite young as well, having just recently turned twenty-two. An officer who was not used to leading people and who has suspiciously high-ranked for his age? The thing stank of nepotism.

"So what are your plans at the moment then? I hope you're not simply waiting for a rescue mission which won't come." Harry asked Simon. The stoic Spartan might be quiet and only spoke short sentences, but he always responded with a polite tone. So very unlike most aurors Harry had met in his lifetime, of only the people Harry worked with could be like the super soldier.

"Commander Jacobs is working on a plan to escape the planet, but until then we simply hold the perimeter around the base and eliminate any covenant that discover our presence." Although one of the Spartan's flaws was the severe lack of forethought. He seemed to accept whatever order his commanding officer gave him, regardless of the consequences. Harry was starting to doubt the man's sanity, if only because he seemed a bit too quick to defend Jacobs' decisions.

"Yes, but hasn't he told you anything? I mean, you haven't really been here for months without any kind of plan, right? You have at least done some kind of action to get off the planet? I find it hard to believe you have simply waited here for weeks without doing anything." If Hedwig had the idea to infiltrate the base then the officer in charge of the refugee camp must have also thought of it.

"It is not our place to question the commander, but I shall inform him of your concerns. We are here." Any further conversation was put on hold as the taller man stopped in front of a shed. It was probably the ugliest building Harry had ever seen, and he had seen Hagrid's hut plenty of times in various states of disrepair. The walls were made of corrugated sheet metal, some grey and some white, with a single chimney on top spitting out smoke. It looked like someone had been forced to create a house in less than an hour and had done only the bare minimum in the process. The corners had been covered with plastic, most likely due to the builders lack of skill, to cover any possible holes and there some severe cases of rust covering the shed. All in all, he doubted a person with a mortal wound would survive for long in the shed without medical attention.

Opening the door, he was greeted with the stench of old blood and waste. Had they not been taking care of him? Had they left him alone to die, hoping to save as much food as possible for themselves? He had to activate the filtration system on the helmet before he could go inside, otherwise he feared he might vomit on the wound. A single, rusty furnace was burning in the corner and supplying the room with some heat, but the wind blowing through the creaks and holes in the wall was quickly robbing the room of it. The man lying on the bed, covered in cold sweat, was unconscious (probably a small mercy for him as he didn't notice the smell) but his breathing was stable. That was good, of his breathing had been shallow and fast then he would have to work quickly. Since he could breathe on his own he was still strong enough to survive for another ten minutes while Harry cleaned up.

"Why is he all alone in this filth? Were you trying to kill him?" he asked Simon angrily. Simon might not be responsible for the wounded, but he might know who was.

"We have no supplies since the Commander has ordered us to remain on station and the only doctor we had died two weeks ago from the conditions of the base. There was nothing we could do except keep him warm by placing a furnace inside his quarters." Simon responded, not showing even the slightest reaction to Harry's outburst.

Was he retarded? Of course there were things you could do! Boil some water and clean the wound for example or at least keep the shed relatively free from dirt and grime. He might die from an infection caused by the conditions he was kept in before the wound itself f killed him. He wanted to grab a hold of the tall man and shake him until he was dizzy, but he knew it was a waste of time. He had seen Alice move earlier and he doubted he could keep up with the physically superior soldier without using magic to compensate. Did his augmentations include brainwashing? Could he not think for himself just once? Harry's opinion of the man was crumbling as fast he had created it. For all the brawn the man possessed he didn't have half as much brain it seemed.

"Fine, just get out and leave me alone! I need to clean up here before I can do anything else. Actually, you will help me clean this place. Find me something I can use as a mop and come back here. Merlin knows this floor needs cleaning. And boil some water as well!" The floor had accumulated a thick layer of human waste and blood, evidence that whoever had been in charge of taking care of the wounded had let the ma defecate where he was lying. Even if he treated the injury, the infection he would gain from simply sleeping in the place would kill him.

How would he clean this place up? He could use magic of course; even a wandless Scourgify would be enough to get rid of most of the grime. Simon was too simpleminded to question his superiors so he would not even notice that small fact. The problem was the AI in his helmet. If he did anything that used magic while wearing the helmet then Hedwig would see it and instantly know something was wrong. He might not be the most advanced person when it came to technology, but he was pretty certain an AI would notice of he did something magical. Would he show her what he was? Could he trust her with such a secret, after only knowing her for two weeks? Probably not, he didn't know what motivated an AI, but until he did then he would keep magic a closely guarded secret.

He still didn't know what had happened to the wizards and witches back on earth since he had not seen or heard anything resembling a wizard since he woke up. Even back in his time the issue of detection by muggles had been an important question. The muggles had progressed in technology to the point that CCTV cameras were a common occurrence and magic wasn't suitable to negate that detection method. There had been a large debate between muggleborns and purebloods about what to do, but he had not been able to see the end of the discussion and the answer they found. His illegal arrest had made it a bit hard for him to do so.

That left him with pure physical labor as an option. Grabbing a piece of dirty cloth, he started wiping the grime away from the floor. There was a bucket filled with water in one of the corners which came in handy when he had to clean the rag, an action he found himself doing far too often.

"Harry, while I applaud your dedication to clean living, don't you think it can be done by someone else? We don't have to do this, you know." Hedwig informed him. She had been looking forward to the opportunity healing people, not cleaning up after them.

Harry did agree with her, but he needed to do this. There wasn't anybody who wanted to clean up after the wounded, this had been proof of that, but he needed the man to live. So far he had not made a very good impression on anybody here; Alice saw him antagonize Claus, Claus obviously hated him and Simon didn't have a very strong opinion about anything. He needed the man to survive and be grateful to him for saving his life and his daughter; otherwise he could kiss his chance at escape goodbye.

Besides, he had to clean up every time Dudley would vomit after a boxing match. He was used to disgusting pools on the ground. It didn't mean he had to like it though.

Simon eventually came back with a mop which looked like it had been used as Mrs. Norris's wig and by then Harry had been able to get rid of most of the muck. Using the grey mop to wipe away the last of the human waste products, he was finally able to look at the ground. The floor wasn't pretty or anything, which was to be expected since it was made up of wooden boards hastily nailed together, but it was better than what had been there before. At the very least, he didn't feel disgusted by stepping on the floor now.

"I brought the water." Simon said next to him. In his hand was a metal pail, slightly smaller than the average bucket, covered in soot. Had he simply put the pail on a fire to boil it? They really didn't have any supplies left, did they? It was a miracle they hadn't died from disease or starvation yet. How the bloody hell were they supposed to survive the winter if they didn't leave the planet? Huddle up in front of a fire and hope for the best?

"Right, I'm going to start now so I might need a hand. Go clean your hands, I don't want the wound getting infected." He was currently repeating what he had learnt from Pomfrey during his lessons in the Auror corps. The elderly woman had been chosen by the ministry due to her expertise in giving emergency treatment, a fact he should have expected if her skill during the attack on Hogwarts was any indication. Out of all the recruits, she had been especially harsh on him, smacking his hands if he made even the tiniest mistake. It was payback from all the times he had been sent to the hospital wing he had thought, but in hindsight, wasn't she forbidden from harming another human being? His fingers were sore and swollen by the time he passed her examination, but he never forgot how to bind a tourniquet. Was that her goal?

Simon did as told, perhaps a little too obediently, and sat down on the other side of the bed. Harry did the same and for the first time he was able to get a good look at the wound.

It was ugly, enough so to make his stomach contract in an attempt to empty itself. The wound was circular with a diameter of about two centimeters. It was located on his abdomen, right on top of his lower organs. Whatever had been used as ammunition, it had injured his intestines and left a gaping wound. It had been covered by dirty bandages, but they had at some point they had been moved because the bandages were loosened and the hole was there for the world to see. Until now he had worked to prevent infections, but it looked like that had been a futile effort. Pus had accumulated inside the wound and was running down the sides of the stomach, small drops falling into the newly cleaned floor.

What to do first? He could give the man some painkillers, but he only had pills and the man was currently unconscious, making swallowing the pills rather hard. If he couldn't sedate him then cleaning the wound was the first thing he could do.

Pouring some of the clean water onto the wound, he was able to see just what kind of wound it was. The sides of the hole were cauterized, something which had stopped the flow of blood and probably enabled him to survive for so long, but made it very easy for bacteria to enter the wound. Due to the necrosis which had set in, the healing had not begun and as a result, he would have died without any professional help.

While Harry might not be a professional doctor or a healer, his digital companion was more than qualified.

"What am I supposed to do, Hedwig?" Without magic to aid him his skills in healing people were rather poor. Having Hedwig to aid him was probably for the best. She was after all the reason he couldn't use magic.

"Judging by the discoloration of the skin, necrosis has already begun to set in. We have to cut away from the dead tissue in order to move forward. You took a scalpel with you from the pharmacy right?" she asked him.

If she meant the small knife he had found in the office of the drugstore then she was right. The small blade was almost laughable compared to the combat knife he had taken from the armory, but he figured it might be useful. To call it a scalpel was maybe a bit too much though.

"Yeah, you have to tell me if I do something wrong though. It's been a while since I last used a knife for anything other than cutting food." He warned her. Even during the war he rarely used a knife, the only time he had been forced to use it was when they had been ambushed and he used a butter knife to stab Goyle Sr.

"Oh trust me, I'll tell you when you're doing something wrong. Judging by the way you hold the scalpel I think I'll be telling you quite often just what you're doing wrong. While we sat here and operate, Simon will go and boil the bandages. We need clean ones to cover the wound once we're done." She responded. Harry chose to ignore her jab and corrected his way of handling the knife.

"Did you hear that, Simon?" Harry asked the Spartan. The man nodded and rose to leave, even though he had just sat down. Gathering up the filthy bandages, he left through the door. The sound of metal screeching grated at Harry's ears, but he was able to endure. He focused on the wound and took a deep breath.

"Okay, here we go." Harry encouraged himself as he began to slowly cut away the dead tissue surrounding the wound.

**UNSC Marauder**

The entire `operation´ took over three hours since Hedwig was adamant in not doing anything incorrectly. Simon had been a lifesaver, quite literally, when he returned and had held the patient down after the pain woke him up. After knocking the wounded man out and strapping him down, he helped Harry pour water over the wound to keep the blood from covering Harry's vision. Hedwig herself had been impressed by the man's ability to keep calm and work under such conditions.

After cutting away the dead tissue, they had sewn the damaged intestines together though he doubted he had done it correctly. The man would have to see a professional if they got off the planet, Harry's skill with the needle was nowhere near enough to heal him completely. It would be enough to keep him alive for a few months, but it would most likely lead to complications later on if he didn't get the sutures corrected.

After the intestines were out of the danger zone, he had to close the wound. That was easier said than done since the wound had grown from a two-centimeter diameter to a three-centimeter diameter. Luckily, Simon had suggested they transplant some of the patient's skin onto the wound to help the closing before Hedwig had the chance to say so. How the Spartan had been so knowledgeable of medical procedures and still not making any attempt to help the patient was beyond him. Maybe he truly was brainwashed?

Cutting away a piece of his thigh, they were able to cover the wound with little difficulty. Harry's stitches looked like a fifth-grader's according to Hedwig, but they would do until he could get to a hospital. Before they left the shed, Hedwig told him to inject a dose of penicillin to fight the infections ravaging the man's body. Using a syringe to inject it into the man's stomach, Harry wondered how it would have ended if he used magic. Could he have done the same with magic, or could he have done it better? Thoughts of similar nature plagued his mind as he walked among the junkyard. His thoughts were however interrupted by the man walking beside him.

"It appears the Commander wants to speak to you. He told me to take you to the Command Center." Simon said. Harry's head snapped to face the man. Had the man received an order through his helmet? Were there radios in the helmet as well?

"Why?" He asked. He had been inside the camp for four hours at most, why would the commanding officer want to see him?

"I do not know, he didn't say. If had to guess, he wants to know what your AI knows." The tall super soldier said.

Hedwig? Why would he want to know about her? Perhaps he knew that the military had been stationed inside the hospital for a while and wanted to confirm if he had access to any information regarding military operations.

"Then let's not keep him waiting for too long shall we? Lead the way, good sir." Harry said, an extravagant wave with his arm to gesture the man forward. The Spartan didn't acknowledge his actions, but he did walk change directions towards what was apparently the HQ of the refugee camp.

The walk took less than five minutes before they arrived at the makeshift HQ. Much like the shed Rose's father had been in, the HQ looked like someone had slapped a bunch of metal plates together in a rectangular shaped and decided to leave it at that. The only difference between HQ and the shed he had treated the patient in was the size; Rose's father had been in a shed the size of van, the Command Center was the size of a house.

"Is this it?" He found a little strange that an officer would command from a place such as this.

"We were forced to leave the city in a rush and had to improvise when building a new HQ. Lieutenant Commander Jacobs is already waiting inside." Moving ahead of Harry, he opened the door. The screeching of metal rubbing against metal made Harry's ears hurt, but it was soon over. Stepping inside he was finally able to see the commander. The man was young, Harry's age in fact, and very nervous. Harry might have understood how the man felt; both of them were young who had been thrust into a position of responsibility without their consent.

But that ended when he was able to look around the room.

Two furnaces and an electric radiator kept the shelter warm enough to make Harry want to take the armor off. Cups of tea were on the table and an empty plate covered in sauce told him the commander wasn't starving like the rest of the camp was. Three marines (or were they troopers?) were inside the room, holding rifles much like the one Harry was holding. Clean bandages covered the commander's hand, much cleaner than the ones Rose's father had been given. Instead of the haggard appearance even his guards seemed to possess, the commander was somehow able to keep a small layer of babyfat under his skin. Even the overweight Claus seemed to have abundance in skin; a sign he had lost some of the fat he had before. While the rest of the camp suffered from disease and hunger, the commander looked like he was surviving rather comfortably.

Any connection Harry had felt with the man was eradicated before he could talk to him. He seemed to notice Harry's stare as he broke into a smile as he saw him.

"Welcome, how are you? So you're the stranger who came from the city? I'm Commander Ismael Jacobs, it's a pleasure to make you're acquaintance." The officer said, reaching out his hand for a handshake. Removing his helmet to get a better look at him, he shook the officer's hand.

"Harry Potter." No need to waste respect on him, the man wasn't worth it. He didn't need to use Legilimency on him, he could tell the man was the same as Draco Malfoy. They had the same air around them, the same sense of superiority he felt every time he spoke to the blonde ponce.

"No rank? You're not a marine?" he asked confused.

"No, should I be?" Harry responded.

"Well, you are wearing the BDU of the marine corps so I assumed you were a marine. Never mind, let us get down to business shall we?" he said while gesturing towards the table with the cups of tea.

"Business?" Harry asked, perplexed over what the man wanted. He hadn't mentioned anything about Hedwig or Alpha base, what could he want form Harry?

"Yes, it's about that AI of yours. I was able to see through Simon's helmet when you operated on Helmsman Decourt. Very impressive, to think she could direct even someone without medical experience in order to perform surgery." He said with excitement.

"Yeah, she is very impressive. But I fail to see what you want with her, do you want to talk to her yourself?" She could activate the speakers and enter the conversation in person. No need for the conversation to be between the two of them only.

"Please do so, I've always wanted to talk to medical AI." He motioned with his hand for Harry to activate the helmet, but there was no need for that. Hedwig had already activated the speakers the moment Jacobs had finished speaking and a voice emanated from the helmet, like some version of an undead head continuing to live after being decapitated.

"Good evening gentlemen, I'm Hedwig, the AI formerly responsible for Saint George's Hospital of Research and Medicine. How may I be of service today?" how come she wasn't so polite when she was talking to Harry? It seemed like he had to endure he jabs and barbs every time he spoke to her.

"Extraordinary, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I would offer you a cup of tea, but I'm afraid I do not have any in digital format." He let out a laugh, as if the joke was supposed to be funny. When neither of them laughed he quickly shut up. Harry took the opportunity to take a sip of the cup in front of him. Remembering the reason Albus had been able to ambush him, he muttered a detection charm under his breath. His spell didn't react to the fluid inside the porcelain cup so he sipped at the warm beverage. He grimaced at the taste, too sweet for lemon tea, but beggars can't be choosers.

"With all due respect, Lieutenant Commander, but may I ask what it is you wanted to see us for? We've only been here for a few hours so I doubt we have had the opportunity to create trouble for you?" Hedwig asked the officer. Harry agreed, though he had always been known to create trouble regardless of how long he had been in a place. In second year he was almost suspended from school before it began for crashing the Ford Anglia into the Whomping Willow.

"Oh don't you worry, there is no trouble at all. There is in fact a certain matter I wish to discuss with you, regarding a rather sensitive subject. By now Simon has told you what has become of Medical officer Shauntings, yes?" The doctor, the one who died? Didn't he die from disease caused by the base's conditions?

"Yes, the one who died from infections in the lungs caused by the filth accumulated inside the camp? Simon informed us of what happened to him in on our way. What about him?" Hedwig replied. Harry had a sneaking suspicion about where he was going.

"Ever since then we have been without an expert in the field and we cannot put up a resistance without a medic. I was hoping you would be able to substitute him until a replacement could be found." Jacobs said with a smile.

A logical suggestion, if it weren't for the lack of medical concern in the first place. Rose's father would have died if Harry and Hedwig hadn't arrived not because the wound was serious, but because people had left him alone. If the bandages had been cleaned and the wound tended to then he would have survived without a medical professional. Instead he had been left to die a slow and agonizing death. That was not the treatment a fellow human being should be subjected to, especially not when he was a soldier fighting on the same side. It's not like the troops stationed at the camp didn't know how to take care of him either, keeping him clean and with new bandages was basic first aid, something any soldier should know.

In other words, the commander wanted Hedwig for himself. He didn't look sick or dying, but he should know the odds of getting sick if living in a place as contaminated as a junkyard. Even if you had the greatest health in the world, you still ran the chance of dying without a doctor to take care of you. The commander was simply afraid of dying it seemed, a sentiment Harry understood, but he had the responsibility of everyone under his command. Hogging all the resources for himself was not allowed, not even back in his time. Corruption might have been a large part of the twenty-first century, but at least they took care of their own after a disaster. This man was obviously abusing his authority.

"I do not mind taking care of the sick and wounded here, but what are your plans for the future, Commander? I doubt you plan to stay here for much longer." Hedwig asked in return. Had she also noticed Jacobs' intention? While he didn't like playing along with a selfish bastard like Jacobs, he needed the crew for a starship to get off the planet. He could pretend to go along with Jacobs' plan for now, but he wouldn't be tricked. He needed Hedwig for the plan to work which meant she had to play along as well.

"We are going to hide from the covenant forces on the ground until reinforcements arrive. Considering they haven't glassed the planet already it is safe to say they won't be doing it in the near future either. As such, the best course of action would be to let the covenant believe they have already killed all humans on the planet." The plan was not what Harry had expected, probably because it wasn't a plan at all. There reason they hadn't glassed the planet was because they were searching for something, right? Then there is no reason for them to leave the planet alive once they find it. It was a foolish plan created by the incompetent mind of a scared officer too nervous to do anything else but hide in fear.

"Isn't that plan kind of… stupid?" Harry said, fed up with the stupidity the man was spouting. Jacobs sputtered as he said so, obviously shocked that a civilian would question his orders. "Your plan is too dangerous for the people in the camp. Why do you think they haven't glassed the planet yet? Because they're looking for something and once they find it they'll burn everything to the ground. How long do you think it will take the UNSC to arrive, if they even will? It's been months now without a single ship or even some kind of message. The UNSC aren't coming, at least not until after the covenant has left." Weeks of frustration was flowing out of him, giving every word he said more venom than necessary.

"Excuse me, but what does a single civilian have to say about a military operation? I'm the commanding officer here, not you. I'm the one who makes the rules and gives orders and I say we wait until reinforcements arrive!" Jacobs roared in response. Harry wasn't frightened, he had seen worse in his first year at Hogwarts. Jacobs had nothing on a cranky Cerberus.

He needed to shake the man, wake him up from the pipedream he had been living in.

Creating eye contact with Jacobs, he used subtle Legilimency on the weak-minded officer. Reading a man's thoughts was more difficult than most people assumed and the task of using subtle Legilimency made it harder still. Even so, reading Lieutenant Commander Ismael Jacobs thoughts was much easier than he had ever expected.

The man was terrified of everything. Terrified of the covenant, terrified of Claus, terrified of disease, terrified of hunger, terrified of being disowned by his father, terrified of being executed in a coup d'état, terrified of dying alone on Roost. Every thought which ran through his mind was filled with fear to the point of paranoia. It was sickening how the man thought of nothing but himself even as he ordered men to hide the medicine away from the civilians and to store the food inside his own quarters. Even going so far as to have two furnaces in his quarters while the rest of the population froze even with an open fire in their houses…

He seriously wanted to kill the man. He had met a lot of scumbags in his life and he had done things he wasn't very proud off, but even he knew you had to keep the soldiers on your own side happy if you wanted to win the war. As he stood, everyone in the camp probably wanted to kill him, not out of hunger or greed, but out of revenge. Harry was almost ready to grant their wish. Even if he tried to talk sense to the man, he doubted he would be able to convince him to go along with Harry's plan. So what was he supposed to do?

"Fine, you want to wait for your inevitable death? Do it. We'll see who is right." Harry said. Without waiting for a response he grabbed his helmet and left. He ignored the insults the officer behind spat at him, partially because he doubted his guards would let him kill the Commander and partially because he wanted him to die of the glassing beams the covenant was so proud of.

Putting his helmet on, he saw the screen depicting a green holographic woman appear.

"That… was not the smartest thing you could've done." She said. He agreed, he had lost his temper too early. He could have played it slow, ease the officer into helping him bit by bit. Instead the man in charge of the camp was now furious with him and he doubted he would get the people he needed to infiltrate Alpha.

"Shit."

"I agree, though I understand your reaction. If I had arms I would have slapped that man. He didn't care about civilians suffering from disease and injuries; all he thought about was how he was going to survive the invasion. Pompous prick!" She told him, anger clear in her voice. He was amused by her words, until he noticed something about the way she said it.

"Did your accent change?" He asked the voice in his head. He could have sworn she had just spoken in a Surrey accent.

"Finally he notices! I've been changing my accent little by little ever since we met, but you didn't notice until now. I figured it would be a nice change of pace since you are pretty much the only person on Roost with a British accent. What do you think?" The digital woman inside his helmet asked with excitement.

"I'm… surprised, but why would you change your accent? Does it matter if you have an American accent or a British one?" He didn't know how to react. Did accents have meanings in the future he was aware about? He didn't think so, why would they? They are just different ways of pronunciations, different habits acquired as you grow.

"No not really, I just thought it would be a nice gesture. It was kind of hard though, aside from you I have never met a person with an English accent. Roost didn't have any colonists with British roots so I had to analyze your speech patterns and implement them into my own. It was quite tedious, but I had to pass the nights somehow. AIs don't sleep, remember?" Hedwig's response was casual, but he could detect a sense of pride from her accomplishments.

"In that case, thank you. It's comforting to hear a similar accent, especially when you didn't have any reason to do so." He thanked her form the bottom of his heart. It was truly heartwarming that she would go so far for him.

"Now that you have noticed all the little things I do for you, can we get back to the subject at hand? How are we supposed to sneak into Alpha base? We can do it on our own, but we would still need a crew for it to work. Any suggestions?" the AI asked him. He thought about it for a minute before the answer came to him.

"The Commander… He's afraid of the insurrectionist and the marines banding together to overthrow him. That's why he's holding the food for his own troops who are loyal to him, to keep the opposition weak and vulnerable. I say we encourage the marines and insurrectionists to join us and leave the planet instead of starving to death out here. What do you think?" The plan was flawed and too many things could go wrong, but it was a plan he had come up with in less than a minute. He could make a few adjustments after hearing the input Hedwig had.

"Sounds good and I know where to start." She replied.

"Where?" He asked. She smiled mischievously as he waited for a response. He was not prepared for the answer she gave him.

"The hospital."

**UNSC Marauder**

The camp didn't have a hospital of course, that would be too much to ask. He expected the camp to have some kind of large tent made for temporarily housing the injured, but there had been no attempt at anything of the sort. Instead they had cleared out an area the size of a small football field and any wounded soldiers would be put on blankets on the ground. When it would rain, the marines would erect small tents made of tarps over the injured, but Jacobs would keep the troops occupied for the most time. It was a miracle Jacobs still had soldiers under his command, let alone an entire camp. Even a raving lunatic would take care of the injured, even if it was only for show. Something was seriously wrong with that man.

"Let's start here." Harry said as he stopped at the corner of the field. The gravel beneath him crunched as he dropped the equipment he had brought. Nails and hammers fell as he discarded the tools in his arms. An even louder noise came from Simon and Alice; the Spartans having carried more than Harry would ever be able to do. The tall duo had carried planks and beams as well as metal sheets, material meant for building structures.

"Will this location suffice? It's at the corner of the camp, if the covenant attack you'll be left undefended until reinforcements arrive." Alice asked with concern. Jacobs had reluctantly lent him the use of the two Spartans after explaining they would need a place to heal the sick and injured. They had worded it in such way the commanding officer had no choice but to order Simon and Alice to aid him. If he hadn't agreed to the construction, the camp might revolt in anger, a scenario Jacobs was too afraid to risk.

"Yeah, it's facing the forest. If the covenant arrives, they'll attack from the city. This will give us more time to evacuate the injured. Besides, I really don't want to see Jacobs unless I absolutely have to. He and I don't share views." It was an understatement, but he didn't want to reveal he was planning a coup in front of the Commander's top soldiers. It was better for the two for them to remain in the dark for now, to avoid any unnecessary confrontation. If he could convince them to join his side by showing how incompetent Jacobs was then that was fine. If not… He'd cross that bridge when he got to it.

"I'm still not certain it's us you want helping you. We're soldiers, not carpenters. Last time I held a hammer was when I stole one from a brute. And let me tell you something; Gravity hammers don't really make good houses." Alice remarked, holding a hammer in her hands. The tall woman made the hammer look almost embarrassingly small, but he had to remind himself a woman over two meters tall and more muscled than he would ever be would make any tool look small.

"It doesn't have to look like a five-star hotel. As long as it will keep the patients warm and dry then it will be enough." Hedwig's voice was mixed with the static from the cheap loudspeakers, static masking some of her words. It was understandable, but he needed to find something she could speak through. The noise was really starting to get to him.

"If you say so." Alice conceded.

Building a house, even a small shelter built with time and simplicity in mind, was not easy. They had to nail the wooden boards together to form the floor, an activity made difficult due to the varying shapes and sizes of the boards. After that they had to dig pits to stabilize the pillars holding the walls and roof up. The rock underneath the thin layer of soil made Alice lose her calm until she simply stomped her foot down directly on the stone, crushing the hard material. Harry was starting to fear the power those legs had. If she could break rock with a single punch, imagine the pain Claus went through.

Covering the walls with planks and sheet metal was one of the easier tasks, but it did take more time than digging. The horizontal nature of the walls required one person to hold the plank steady while two people hammered the nails in. putting the roof in place was significantly easier since they had a ladder to help them. The work which had taken them most of the day was finished just as the sun set. That was when Hedwig had brought up what the physical workers had forgotten.

"How are we supposed to keep the infirmary warm?" she had asked the trio.

A good question, one Harry was finally able to answer. Rose's father had an old fireplace in his shed, one which looked like it could have been from Harry's time. Once they had transferred him to the infirmary, they could take the furnace and put it in the larger building. Though the small fireplace wasn't large enough to heat the entire house, it would do as a start. If they searched the junkyard thoroughly enough he was sure they could find another. Worst case scenario, he could always steal one form the command center. It wasn't like Jacobs was going to miss one of the fireplaces he kept.

"Rose's father has a fireplace in the old shack he's living in. If Alice and I can move him to the infirmary then Simon can take the furnace. We might have to wait a while though; the man isn't stable enough to be moved just yet." Harry proposed. What would they do until then? It might take a week before the man could be moved. Letting patients sleep inside a cold infirmary wasn't the smartest thing to do, it would simply create a place for infections to thrive.

"We could take one of those old washing machines and use it as a fireplace. As long as we remove all the plastic parts and circuitry it should be fine. The steel should be good enough to hold a week of usage." Simon suggested. A good idea, though the smoke wouldn't be contained inside the makeshift chimney. If they could make the metal frame airtight then perhaps it would work.

"Can we isolate the smoke inside the washer? I don't think the smoke would be good for the people inside." He said.

"The area is rich with clay. If we cover the openings with clay then it would harden from the heat. I don't know how effective it would be, but it's worth a shot." Alice proposed. The female Spartan had cheered up immensely from the physical activity. He had never seen a person look so happy just by using a hammer and nails. An immense improvement in mood from her earlier outburst when digging the pits for the support beams.

"Good idea, let's go try it out."

**UNSC Marauder**

The makeshift fireplace did work, but the air still smelled of smoke whenever they lit a fire inside it. The clay had been such a good replacement for actual metal that he had thought of using it as insulation for the infirmary. He later realized it wouldn't work as well. The time required for drying and the moist air made for very bad combinations. Most of Roost was covered in tropical forests, but winter was still winter. Cold moisture wouldn't mix well with clay, unless he used magic he wasn't going to reveal to his comrades.

They had brought in the injured marines now and he was almost depressed by the conditions they were in. Most of them had major injuries and all of them had infections in their wounds. It was illogical that the Commander would let his own troops suffer like this without some kind of rebellion, but the presence of the covenant was probably deterrent enough. A rebellion would result in a firefight, an event which would surely attract the attention of the covenant.

He had started to treat the wounded, but there had simply been too many for him to take care of. He had Hedwig in his head to tell him what to do, but the civilians had no such aid. Only two other marines and the Spartans at his side knew enough about first aid to help him, a meagre number compared to the people lying on the dirty blankets and the line outside. He'd be cutting away infections all night if this continued.

The sun had since long disappeared and the moons in the sky was the only natural light around. The roof blocked most of it so he had told Simon to get some torches. He had initially told Alice, but she had refused. His authority was apparently not enough to issue orders to her, only suggestions. That was alright though, she'd see things his way soon enough.

Alice was a complicated person, or so he had come to suspect. She was emotional over human lives as she lost her temper when Claus had opened fire on a family. The parents had died, leaving the children as orphans, a feeling Alice had felt once as well. If he could get her to see that Jacobs was killing the camp slowly through his tyrannical way of ruling, then she would aid him in his attempt to get off the planet. The red-haired woman obeyed Jacobs for now, but she might join him once she saw how the wounded were being treated by Jacobs. Who would she side with; the man who condemned people to death out of fear for his own life, or the man who treated the sick and injured at the risk of his own life? A person as sensitive as Alice would probably choose the latter.

Simon on the other hand would be more difficult to convince even though his personality was much easier to figure out. The man was brainwashed, there was no other way to say it. He showed a little emotion sometimes, when the odds looked like they were stacked a bit too much in the enemies' favour, but that was all he would do. There was no reaction, no underlying anger to exploit, no apparent weakness. He was a machine, anything the Commander ordered he would obey. A very difficult obstacle to overcome, especially since he appeared to be stronger than Alice, at least physically speaking.

How would Harry manipulate them both into turning against Jacobs? The easiest method would be to use Alice's emotions against her, to convince her that Harry was the better leader for the survivors. He was almost certain she would do what was best for the people before obeying the commanding officer. The only reason he doubted it might work was because she hadn't done so already, despite seeing all Jacobs had done. It might simply be because the circumstances would mean casualties they couldn't tolerate while hiding form the covenant, but the risk of it being a different reason was too high. He hadn't tried using Legilimency on either of them because he wanted to avoid probing into the minds of a possibly brainwashed soldier. He had done that during the war against the Death Eaters and he was still trying to forget what he had seen. He was no stranger to bloodshed and perversion, but he had a limit when it came to children and Malfoy crossed that limit.

Simon… he was too dangerous to be left alone. Dumbledore had taught him few things of value, but he had taught him that a rogue element was simply too risky to be left alone. If he couldn't convince him to join Harry's plan then he had to be brought over with force. Harry didn't like using the Imperius curse, not because it was a dark curse, but because the effects were varied when the subject's mind was distorted. Harry had been placed under the effects of the curse multiple times, even having placed others under it as well, to the point of him losing perception of the curse's actual nature. He had been in a war at the time and sacrifices had been made, a sentiment the auror corps had not looked kindly upon. Maybe that's why he didn't pass the last screening process?

If he used the Imperius curse on Simon, what would the result be? Hopefully it would mean the man's loyalty would transfer from Jacobs to Harry, but what if it failed? He doubted Simon had the mental fortitude to shrug it off completely, him being a muggle and all. Harry had been an anomaly, resisting the effects as a teenager, but most wizards and witches weren't capable of resisting the curse. Even adult wizards would fall under the effects of a single curse from an average practitioner, would Simon be able to shrug off the full force of Harry's curse, a muggle against one of the most powerful wizards in his time? He didn't think he would lose in a battle of willpower, but Simon wasn't someone Harry would call mentally stable. It was possible his distorted mind would be able to ignore the effects, but he was putting the cart before the horse if he continued this line of thought. He needed to get the majority of the camp on his side before he would be able to approach the Spartans.

The option of simply killing Jacobs was still there, but then what? The second officer was nowhere to be seen and Claus was just waiting to take command. Alice and Simon were probably good candidates for leadership, however they had no goals aside from following command. He might be able to use the Impervius curse directly on Jacobs, that would enable him to control the entire camp and save everyone without any bloodshed, but he wasn't sure he could pull if off. Jacobs never left HQ from what he had read fromt he officer's mind and he would definitely be spotted if he tried to sneak into the house. The chances of him being able to sneak into the house, casting the curse on Jacobs while avoiding the guards who guarded him at all times were abysmal at best. He was foolish, not suicidal.

He didn't have any problem casting the curse, but he needed to find the right time for it. Until he could cast the curse without Hedwig or the Spartans noticing it he would have to work on turning the camp over to his own side. It would take time, but at least it was better than doing nothing.

"Harry, stop what you're doing." Hedwig told him. Harry finished the last suture and put the needle down on the table next to him.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked her. Even if they had finished treating the people who required immediate attention, there was still a line of people outside, waiting to get help.

"We can't continue on like this. We just used up the last medicine we had and the thread used for the stitches is all but gone. Without the equipment required, we can't do anything except tell them to rest and hope for the best. Besides, you've been working since we left the apartment at dawn. That was twenty hours ago. You need to rest, especially since you almost cut away Lieutenant Stevenson's kidney. You're about to collapse from exhaustion and we have no supplies left. Tell Alice we have to stop for today, we'll continue tomorrow." She said gently, probably so he wouldn't take it the wrong way.

Had he really been working for so long? His magic must have been supplying him with the energy necessary to continue, but it would only work for so long it seemed. He needed sleep just like any man; it was during rest that his magical energy was replenished.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I hadn't realized how late it was getting." He agreed with her. He resisted a yawn, but the temptation was too much and released an almost painful yawn as he stretched. His arms and shoulders let out a few loud `Cracks´ as he moved them out of the position they had been in for the last hours.

"Yeah, that's going to hurt tomorrow. Alice! We have to stop here tonight. We don't have any supplies left and I need to sleep or I'll end up hurting someone out of sleep deprivation." He called out to her. The female Spartan looked up from her position and nodded. She was currently sewing up a small injury on a marine's forearm, something which should normally have been left to a professional, but when times are tough the tough get going. Or something like that, he was sure it went along those lines anyway.

Grabbing one of the sleeping bags on the floor, he took off his armor and crawled into the small cocoon of artificial fabric. Hopefully the cold wouldn't get to him while he was inside the sleeping bag, he would hate to get a cold when treating other patients.

**UNSC Marauder**

His stomach rumbled in protest as he unfolded the table he had found amongst the various piles of the junkyard. The old picnic table had been the best he could find on such short notice, but it would have to do for now. The infirmary needed some kind of workplace and everything which looked like it hadn't belonged to a contemporary Mrs Figg had already been looted by the rest of the survivors. His breakfast had been put on hold until he had found something he could eat on and even then he had lost most of his newfound food the night before to starving marines and insurrectionists.

He was inside his `Office´ so to speak. They had shielded of a small rectangular area away from the rest of the infirmary, to create a workspace and a place to store medicine. Simple planks had been used to erect a small wall a little taller than Alice, the lack of material making it little more than a screen of wood.

"We have a problem." That was the first thing he said when Alice and Simon walked into the room. Both of the Spartans looked at him like he was retarded, even the stoic Simon was surprised.

"Yes, the covenant has attacked the planet, we are already aware of that." Simon pointed out.

"Not that problem, there is another. The medicine and food I brought three days ago is gone. I used the last of it treating the patients last night. Without medicine and good food, the people here are going to get sick all over again. We can't just put them on beds and hope they'll get better, we need to treat them before they get sick. I asked Jacobs if we could get the supplies he's been hogging for himself, but he refused. He said something about rainy days, but I think it's just a load of shite." He had gone to Jacobs to ask for the medicine he hid from the rest of the camp, but he had neglected to mention what he would do if he didn't get the medicine required.

"So what do we do?" Alice asked. From what he could tell, Alice did not possess a high rank in the military. Most of the time she accepted Simon's decision except when it came to human lives, and children for some reason, then she would fight Simon with tooth and nail. Matters were made worse since Simon was ready to sacrifice local population for the mission sometimes if the sacrifice was small compared to the importance of the mission. They would apparently butt heads quite a lot, but only until the situation had been resolved or a higher officer would command them.

"We go into town, find a pharmacy and collect what we need. Between the three of us, I reckon we can handle most of what we need. Alice carries medicine, Simon and I carry the food. It would be good if we could get another three people to come with us, but then we would leave the camp with a weak guard so I wouldn't recommend it." He provided.

If he accidentally showed the duo that he was a much better leader than Jacobs and shook their faith in the Commander then that was just a bonus. His focus was the medicine, not the loyalty of the Spartans. He could focus on winning the duo over after the camp had recovered from the sickness it was suffering from.

"Are you sure?" Alice asked. "Simon and I are more than enough if it's only supplies we need. If we have to bring along a third person then we would only be slowed down." She explained at his questioning look.

He had not thought of that particular argument. He had known the Spartans more than outclassed him in physical ability, but he had underestimated the limits of their strength, or perhaps their opinions of his limits. Alice had broken rock with a kick, but exactly how much force did you need to break stone? He didn't have a scale to compare it to, but he was pretty sure it required more than what was humanly possible. Hagrid was strong enough, but the halfbreed had giant blood in him so he didn't count. He wouldn't be surprised if Hagrid was stronger than these two combined. The friendly gamekeeper almost crushed Harry once in a hug.

His first friend aside, it still didn't solve the problem he was facing. He needed an argument capable of ensuring he was with them when fetching supplies in order to get them away from the Commander. He couldn't talk with them about the conditions of the camp with the officer next door to notice his complaints. The man was paranoid enough to see his comments as attempts to sow seeds of discord, which they actually were in a way, but he wasn't supposed to know that yet. How could he overturn their objections? He could wing it, of course…

"Exactly how much can you carry? I'm sure you're strong enough to lift a car and all, but how much can you carry before the weight and size of it all drags you down and you can't fire back at the covenant? Even if you're a spartan, carrying five duffle bags bursting with food will slow you down, more than I would if I had gone along with you." He explained.

It was amazing how easy it had become to make it all up as he went. As a child, lying to his relatives had been something to avoid since it meant punishment if discovered. As he grew up however, he realized people were lying to him more than he could imagine, from Dumbledore to Fudge to the Weasleys. If he wanted to stay alive then he would have to learn how to lie, to fight fire with fire. He had managed it to a certain point, but fighting a war on two fronts wasn't something a single teenager could achieve without sacrifices. His reluctance to use dark arts had been the first sacrifice to see the end of the war. Dumbledore had been right to a degree when he mentioned Harry had strayed from the `Path of the light´. It hadn't been Harry's fault at least, everyone know not to drive a wild animal into a corner unless you're ready for it to lash out.

"True, but are you sure you can handle the trip? You don't look very… fit, so to speak." Alice argued. Her pause had given her an opportunity to look him over and he realized what she meant. He had spent two years in a coma, to think he might get back into shape within two weeks was foolish. He would need more time than that to develop the muscles required to convince people he wasn't a living skeleton. Even while he was wearing armour, Alice's vision could apparently see how his body was built and she wasn't very subtle about her opinion.

"I'm fit enough to run an errand into town to get medicine and food. Merlin knows I'm starving enough to eat a horse by now. Besides, I could use the exercise." No, he needed the exercise. The camp had no paths suitable for jogging and no equipment he could use to train with except for broken junk he wouldn't want to use even with enough muscles to help him if something went wrong. He might stumble upon a covenant patrol in the city, but then he would have two Spartans with him to take them out and if push came to shove, he could always use his magic as a last resort. He had never tried to use wandless magic in a fight before, but there was no time like the present. His late night training had improved his control slightly, but he wouldn't actually know until he got into a fight. Could he cast the killing curse without a wand? Not even Voldemort or Dumbledore had tried it so he wouldn't take too many chances, but he knew he could cast a stunner if he overloaded the spell.

Alice looked at him like she didn't believe him, not that he blamed her. A patient who had only come out of a coma two weeks prior and claimed he could fight? There wasn't a man, woman or child who would fall for that, but neither Alice nor Simon knew just how recently he had woken up. For all they knew it could have been at the start of the invasion two months ago, giving him enough time recover most of his physique. His magic helped him reinforce that theory since it had been working overtime to help him build muscles, giving him twice the results for the training he had actually done.

"Look, you two are stronger than any human in the camp, but you are only two humans. You can't expect me to just let you wander off into the city filled with aliens and not come with you. Three guns are better than two, even if I can't carry as much as you can." He felt like his plan had fallen apart before it had even begun. Simon and Alice might be able to do it by themselves, but that would do nothing for his goal of taking Alpha base. Not if Jacobs would be there to veto his plan and have the Spartans on his side support the Commander's decision.

"I'm sure this is a wonderful conversation you're having, but I'm afraid I have to cut things short." An obnoxious voice said from the doorway. The trio turned around to look at the newcomer and Harry felt his irritation increase tenfold. The owner of the voice was leaning against the door, smoking a cigar like he was having the time of his life , surrounded by people who might be corpses in a few hours.

"Commander Jacobs, is something wrong, sir?" Alice asked the commanding officer. Jacobs sneered at her question, as if she should know the answer to the question already. She looked surprised by his attitude, not sure how to react to the man had been bold or foolish enough to disrespect a spartan even though she was one of his strongest subordinates. Alice must have been used to Commanders who disregarded her as a tool, but she might not be so experienced with officers who disrespected her so openly.

"Yes I do believe there is something wrong here. Remind me Simon-A299; what were my orders regarding exit and entry of the base?" Jacobs asked the male spartan, not Alice. Simon's face tensed, his jaw locking into a rigid expression worthy of a statue.

"Entry into the base is only permitted after the perimeter has been secured. Leaving the base is prohibited unless permission has been granted specifically by the commanding officer. Failure to comply will result in punishment decided by the commanding officer who arrives first to the scene." The sentences being said by the tall spartan sounded like they were being read from a piece of paper. His reluctance to speak became clear in his voice by the end of the speech, his expression displaying his internal turmoil like a TV-screen.

"Exactly, those were my orders, word for word. It's a good thing you have such amazing memory, lieutenant, to remember what I said when I first established this camp. Of course that is why I'm surprised by the subordination you're currently showing." Jacobs said with a hiss worthy of any parslemouth. Simon flinched at his words, his eyes filling with an unknown emotion Harry couldn't identify. It was so odd for the man to display any kind of feeling that the visible effect was disturbing.

"Insubordination, sir?" Alice asked in Simon's stead. The male Spartan looked like someone had just told him his mother had copulated with cattle and the insult had not registered in his brain yet.

"Yes, he was clearly intending to leave the base despite my orders not to do so. Isn't that right, lieutenant?" He asked the Spartan once more. Simon's jaw looked like it was about to break itself against his own bones as the muscles in his face appeared to be painfully tense.

"No sir, we were about to go to you for permission. Nobody said anything about going against your orders." The normally stoic man responded through the thin line his mouth had become.

"I see, of course you were. Unfortunately I can't spare the only two Spartans I have at the moment. The guard is lacking several of its members due to the scouting party last week and to send both of you at the same time would be too much of a risk." Jacobs said matter-of-factly. His tone had not changed, the disdain in his voice as obvious as the babyfat underneath his skin. Harry chose to intervene , before his little insurrection was smothered in its crib. Perhaps he could turn this conversation to his advantage?

"Alas, I have to insist. These two possess the greatest strength in the entire camp and the resources we need are a bit on the heavy side. If we have to carry it all with only marines to help then I would need a team of about ten soldiers. What you need are more eyes on the fence, not two pair of eyes at the expense of ten. What good are two Spartans if the covenant can get into the camp and kill the survivors before the Spartans can notice them?" He said, raising his voice a little higher than necessary.

Jacobs blinked at the volume of his voice, caution quickly appearing in his eyes. Harry suppressed a smile at the reaction, imagining the thoughts running through the Commander's head. Why would Harry change the tone of his voice in the middle of the conversation? If he had been angry then it would have been easy to retaliate, but any human being would be wary of such a change if they didn't know the reason for it. Jacobs, for all his fears and doubts, was still an officer trained to lead. He knew the signs of a trick when he saw them and Harry was obviously trying to trick him into something.

"You'll have to accept my decision, Mr Potter. This is my base, my camp and my soldiers. Anything I say goes around here and I'm not going to send two of my best soldiers out to leave the base undefended." He chose his words carefully Harry noted. When they had been in the HQ of the camp, Jacobs had been much more hostile in his response. He had been inside his own territory, his safety zone. Now Harry had established his own headquarters to operate from and Jacobs had stepped into it without realizing the dangers. The infirmary had been the result of Harry's efforts and he had spent every hour he could inside the hastily built shack. Harry's confidence had increased simply because he was inside a place he knew better than the Commander. With confidence came respect… and danger.

Jacobs had expected the meeting to be between the Commander and a civilian, but as Harry was the only one Hedwig wished to cooperate with, Harry's status had unconsciously been promoted to the Medical officer of the base. Jacobs may be the one with an official rank in the conversation, him being a commissioned officer and all, however Harry was the only one with the ability to save a soldier's life if they were hurt in a confrontation with aliens knocking on their door. With over a hundred people waiting for medical attention, Jacobs could not simply dismiss Harry's opinions as that of an ignorant civilian even if he had no idea of what military tactic meant. The people under his command needed Harry's help and to throw Harry in jail might result in mutiny, an outcome Jacobs hoped to avoid.

"Are you really going to let everyone on this base die just because you couldn't spare two soldiers for a few hours? Are you that selfish? This isn't a question of I want or desire, this is about what we need to survive! Can't you see the people are dying from disease already? Give it a week more and half the camp will die!" The anger Harry had been hiding from the conversation until now was appearing, each word making him feel a little better and yet even angrier at the same time. Jacobs recoiled from his anger, but responded with pleasure.

"I have to maintain order in the base! Each day I see signs of the covenant coming closer to the camp and I need all the soldiers I can get…" He began his tirade only to be interrupted by Harry's own outburst.

"And then what? When the covenant does find us, what will you do when all the soldiers are too sick to move or fight? Will you run away, leaving the rest of us as decoys while you get to safety? Why don't I ask the patients in the other room what they think of your plan?" he asked, waving his arm toy the wall of his office. The other side of the wall had dozens of sick and injured, all of whom had heard their conversation.

Harry saw realization strike Jacobs. He wished he had a camera there to record the expression on the Commander's face, the slack-jawed astonishment which quickly turned into teeth-gritting anger. He knew he really shouldn't enjoy agitating the Commander, but he had to do this so he might as well take pleasure from it. He had been on the receiving end of a trick so many times that he was obligated to smile when the officer realized his ploy, but he had to repress it unless he wanted Alice and Simon to see his joy. That might ruin their opinion of him and he couldn't have that, could he?

Angry voices rose from the other side of the wall, the protests of three dozen people roaring across the shelter. In the beginning it was a single mumble, but with each passing second it increased in volume. Mumbles became shouts and in the time it took for Jacobs to understand Harry's intention the sick and injured behind the wall had joined their complaints into a pandemonium of outrage.

Jacobs, a man who wished to avoid a rebellion at any cost, could not stand by his decision unless he wanted to risk a revolt. He might be on the winning side of the rebellion, considering he had the control of two Spartans and some of the marines, but the ensuing firefight would most likely attract the covenant and then they would all die. If Jacobs wished to retain his control over the camp then he would have to amend his earlier statements. Harry would let him do that of course; Harry was a gentlemen after all.

"You… You're a real bastard, you know that?" Jacobs said and it was Harry's turn to be surprised. He… had not expected that kind of response. Maybe he wasn't as good of a puppeteer as Dumbledore was?

"I'm pretty sure my parents were married when they had me. Why?" Play dumb. That always worked. Jacobs accepted his answer with a seething look which made even Harry uncomfortable. He turned to Alice, the taller Spartan towering over her commanding officer like an adult to a child. When Jacobs spoke he roared over the cacophony of voices to make himself heard.

"Alice-B125, your orders are to accompany Mr Potter and acquire the supplies he requires to continue the infirmary. A marine will arrive in an hour to aid you in this regard and to help you in case of hostiles." The voices on the other side of the wall stopped for a second, but they later returned with joy, excitement and relief. Harry might have lost himself in the cheer if Jacobs hadn't given him a look which promised revenge at a later date. Stepping closer, the Commander was just a few feet away, close enough for Harry to see the small scar on the Jacobs' chin. Training exercise gone wrong perhaps?

"Don't think you've won, Mr Potter…" Jacobs said. "Because you haven't. All you have accomplished is making an enemy out of someone who can crush you as easily as an ant. I'd be careful not to act out like this again, or I might have to make an example out of you." The Commander's voice, which had until this point been smug and filled with disdain, had turned cold as ice and Harry was reminded of Snape for a short moment. They had nothing in common concerning appearances, but the way they spoke did have a certain… loathing which gave him reason to think they might be related.

"Is that all?" He couldn't trust his own willpower to stop him from using magic on the Commander. It would have been so easy, to simply cast the imperius curse and make the officer kill himself. Not a single person on the planet knew about magic so there wasn't anyone here to accuse him of murder. The man was so close, it wouldn't even be noticeable if he muttered a word and Jacobs left. Simon and Alice might think he was insulting the Commander, Hedwig might think he was planning revenge, but nobody would be able to connect Harry to the Commander's sudden suicide.

But that was too naive. Hedwig was observing his every move and heard every word he said. If he did use magic with her around then she would notice and she would wonder what he had done. She might not think he was using magic, but her mind could draw up several scenarios and one of them might be something similar. Hedwig might be the thing which kept him alive, but she was at the same time stopping him form using magic.

Before he could give in to the temptation, Jacobs had moved away and gone through the door. Harry started breathing again, the short confrontation having taken more energy than he would have thought. He might not like the Commander, but he had definitely underestimated the man's hostility. He had to reevaluate Jacobs' competence sometime, maybe when they got off the planet and he had time to actually do it.

"Well, that was interesting." He summed up. "Shall we get back to work, shall we?" The Spartans agreed, at least Alice did.

"I'm afraid I can't go help you, Mr Potter." Simon excused himself. He had the expression of someone who had just lost his puppy. "I have to report to guard duty, as per the Commander's orders. I'll talk to the marines by the fence and have one of them sent to you." Bowing his head slightly, the behemoth of a man exited the room. He had to dodge when walking through the door as the height of the man was apparently too high for the man who made the door to take into consideration. Harry felt slightly guilty, since he had been the one to make the door and the frame.

"Since Simon can't join us, we'll stay here today and plan our way into town and the shops we need. What are the largest shops around this area?" He asked Alice when Simon left. He didn't want Simon's absence show on his face, he had grown used to the Spartan over the last three days and to know he wasn't going to be working with one of the two people he knew the best was a disappointment.

"I don't know." Alice replied. "I'm not from around here."

"So where are you from? I'm not very knowledgeable about the towns on Roost so you might have to…" he began, but he wasn't able to finish he sentence.

"I meant I'm not from this planet." She interrupted him. He blinked before he understood what she meant.

"Oh, then what are you doing here? I mean, what are you doing on the planet then?" he asked once more in a polite fashion.

"I was sent here to investigate the possible presence of the covenant. I arrived just days before the covenant attacked and had to stay and help the government evacuate. When the last shuttle was filled our team was ordered to disable the cruisers from pursuing. Only Simon and I survived the mission." She explained, her eyes disturbingly lifeless. It was odd how the UNSC had invested so much money into the Spartans and they were still used as sacrificial pawns. Perhaps they weren't actually supposed to be sent on suicide missions and the local politicians had simply abused their authority? Jacobs was obviously doing it.

"I see, sorry for bringing it up." He apologized. He hadn't meant to bring up such a sensitive subject, not when he was counting on her to cover his back. He could have handled that better, but there was no reason to cry over spilled milk. He just had to… had to… make it up to her somehow.

"No worries, that's the life of a Spartan. Doesn't Hedwig have maps over the area? You should ask her if you want to know where the shops are." Alice suggested. She still had the lifeless eyes, but at least her face looked like it didn't belong to a dead man anymore.

"True, what do you have for me, Hedwig?" He asked the voice in his head. The screen on his visor flared up and the woman made from green light appeared once more. She still wore the futuristic outfit and he felt he might grow blind from the bright light soon if she didn't change clothes to something more `conservative.´

"The junkyard we're currently in is called Oum's junkyard and it's located in the southeast of the Capital. On the top of my head I can remember at least four grocery stores within a kilometer, but pharmacies aren't as close I'm afraid. The closest hospital is Saint George's while the pharmacy we visited on our way here was destroyed by the covenant last night in a fight." The AI explained. The pharmacy had been destroyed? That was news to him.

"I thought you were going to tell me if the covenant attacked anyone. How come you didn't tell me about this?" He asked her, feeling betrayed. He had expected her to tell him anything, but he had expected to be told if the covenant found another human. He might have been able to recruit another person for the crew.

"It wasn't the humans the covenant was fighting. A group of jackals were arguing with the grunts and the ensuing firefight ended when the elites thought they were fighting humans and blasted the building to smithereens. Watching the jackals and grunts blame each other when explaining the fight was quite amusing, you should watch the clip sometime." She offered and another screen appeared, a video depicting three groups of aliens talking on some bizarre tongue about whose fault it was. He clicked the video away, he didn't need another distraction.

"Okay, so we'll have to go to the hospital for the medicine. That's unfortunate, but I could get some more ammo. I'm starting to run out of bullets." He contemplated. Maybe he had enough muscles to get a shotgun this time?

"There's ammunition at the hospital?" Alice asked, suddenly tense and completely focused on Harry. The change in attitude was startling and he lost his composure for a second. Having a two meter tall woman wearing armour and wielding a battle rifle round on you with a look which promised pain if he was lying was a rather shocking experience and he fumbled with his words for a few seconds.

"Yes? I mean, there was two weeks ago, but now I'm not so sure." He explained. Why was she asking about the hospital?

"We need to go to the hospital first then. Hedwig, how much ammunition remained last time you were there?" The apathy she had displayed just moments earlier had been blown away by this newfound energy. Where had it come from? All he had said was something about ammunition, were the Spartans really that eager for more action?

"This might be a stupid question…" He started before Hedwig could answer, hoping he wasn't making a fool out of himself. "…But what is so important about the hospital all of a sudden?"

Alice looked at the physical map on the table, a grim expression on her face. He thought it was strange, how the expression on a face could change so much in a few seconds and immediately alter the perception of the viewer. He had thought Alice was attractive, more so than most women, but the expression she wore made it hard for him to see her as a woman. He couldn't think of her as a member of the opposite sex, not with the frown and the behavior she displayed most of the time. He kept thinking of soldiers in a war, forced into situations where attraction didn't register in the mind until they were sure of their continued survival. Her height and armour might have made it difficult for him to acknowledge her as female, but her personality was the factor that forced him to avoid thinking of her attractive features.

Despite the facts that he shouldn't see view her as potential girlfriend material, he found his mind in conflict. She obviously had a soft spot for children, if he remembered the way she had doted on Rose correctly, and at times her expression would soften. Three days wasn't long enough for him to create an opinion about her, but he needed to remember the way her face looked at the moment.

It was not a good idea to get attached to someone who might die in the coming days.

"One of our problems in defending ourselves isn't the lack of weapons or armour; it's the lack of ammo. We've been saving as much ammo as we can, using covenant weaponry while on the field, but that will only take us so far. The marines only have as much training using covenant weaponry as the UNSC could give them, the majority of the weapons training revolved around using UNSC weaponry. We're running low on ammo as it is, if another scouting party finds us then we won't have anything left to reload our weapons with." She explained, tracing the hospital's location on the map. It would be a long walk. Ten kilometers with food, medicine and ammunition would take all of Harry's stamina. His legs might give out on the way back if he wasn't careful. It did seem like Alice and the marine would have to carry the lion's share of the weight.

"So we need to bring even more supplies back? Great, think we can ask Jacobs for more men?" Harry asked, but didn't think it would work. Jacobs had just made it perfectly clear Harry wouldn't be getting help from him for a very long time. Ambushing him with the dismay of three dozen patients wouldn't make the Commander very happy or eager to support him any further.

"I wouldn't think so. Commander Jacobs did look rather angry at the stunt you pulled. I'd suggest we leave him alone for now. Leave the heavy lifting to us, you can take the medicine we need." Alice had apparently missed his joking tone and answered with all the seriousness in the world. He felt like sighing, he really needed to find someone with humor who wasn't a collection of data and processes.

"Yeah, you might be right about that." If he had his helmet off then he would have run a hand through his hair. Spending too much time in his helmet had left him rather confined. He needed to take a shower soon too. "What do you think the safest route is then? I tend to stick to back alleys, they can provide quick cover if the covenant sees us."

"Good choice, the open roads are too dangerous in case of a stray Spirit." She agreed. "I think we should…" She continued explaining all the military tactics they could use and Harry found himself struggling to keep up. He had learnt tactics and strategy during the war and auror training, but that was different form real military tactics.

He spent the next five hours planning the excursion with Alice, not even noticing the marine who showed and left when they didn't acknowledge his existence. He'd get over it, Harry though when he saw the man leave. Harry didn't have much time to learn the tricks necessary to tricking the covenant and he had a lot to learn.

He'd be ready the next time he met an elite. Next time he wouldn't be caught off-guard.


End file.
